When our children won a Founders seat in the lottery, we felt we had won the Golden Ticket. Here was a public school dedicated to improving the hearts and minds of students through a classical, liberal arts education.

Over the past two years, however, we have witnessed a noticeable shift. After the dissolution with the Hillsdale Barney Charter School Initiative, we no longer have access to the experienced, proven teacher training and support which drew quality teachers to our school. We have severed relationships with the types of pools from which to recruit applicants who model the founding principles of our school. We lost a whopping 26 teachers and staff last May. During the exit interviews with your HR representative, nearly all of the departing staff members said they were leaving as a direct result of the neglect and lack of support from RES. This is an astounding finding for which RES has taken no responsibility and has offered no solution. What hope can we offer applicants when recruiting them to our school

This fall a number of significant issues have arisen with new staff. After a new teacher told students she hoped they did not see her social media accounts, these savvy teens located her TikTok account where this teacher had posted videos where she is visibly drunk, where she openly discusses her anti-American sentiments which are in direct contrast to our school’s values, and anti-men comments which qualify as hate-speech. Not only was she not the most qualified applicant for this position, but sadly, almost all of our students have now viewed her videos which are still public on TikTok. When asked why RES does not vet applicants’ social media, Superintendent Mike Terry said, “It’s too complicated.”

Another high school teacher wielded a large stick and screamed at students. He barricaded the students inside the classroom with his desk to keep tardy students from entering.

It was discovered another teacher had a violent history documented in a police report that included a road rage incident two years ago in which she threatened to kill children. This concern is in addition to that teacher being seen by 9th graders making out in front of our school before class with her partner.

Pursuing the good, the true, and the beautiful is a foundational commitment of a classical school. The teachers are to model virtue that inspires their students. But the few incidents I have shared with you today are just a sampling and are evidence of why parents have mobilized to try to correct the direction in which Founders Classical Academy of Leander seems to be heading.

Our facilities are dramatically below the standard that tax dollars you are entrusted with could provide, including mold in classrooms and an old gym that up to 10 teams have had to share in October. The gym routinely leaks and causes electrical issues with the lighting, air conditioning, and scoreboard. The athletic field cannot be used for games because the rock and holes are a liability, evidenced by numerous injuries to staff and students, some requiring medical care and even surgery. We have been begging RES for years to fix this problem with only empty promises in reply from Superintendent Mike Terry and Regional Director Melanie Sharpless.

There are three new charter schools opening in the Leander area next year, and each is building brand-new shiny facilities. RES has enjoyed a beefy waitlist at our school up until now. Unless RES demonstrates a commitment to resource and support its schools to correct the trend toward public school mediocrity, our students and staff will be departing en masse for greener pastures. Nobody wants this - we all dearly want Founders Leander to succeed. What makes our school so special is the incredible community of families who have given thousands of hours volunteering on campus and hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years to fill in the gaps as RES has redirected funds meant for our campus. Responsive Ed’s model of rapid expansion while turning a blind eye to the schools it has already started is failing our children.

We parents are bringing this to the attention of the RES board to ask you to please get involved and find a way to help our school rise to the standards it once had.

Thank you.