Hello Lead Mine Parents! You received an email and a letter yesterday from the PTA denouncing this petition and encouraging you to contact Kinsey-Barker with your concerns. We completely agree, please contact pkinsey-barker@wcpss.net and cc jmerrill@wcpss.net and zfelton@wcpss.net. That's what we've been doing all year, after we met with the principal to share our concerns and didn't see positive change. If we'd received any cooperation from our Superintendents, this petition would not have been necessary. In the meantime, we thought it might help to give you some additional information: What's So Bad That We Need a Petition? We've had concerns about the new principal since she started working at the school in August. Many current and now former teachers had reached out to us about some of the items in the petition. We tried multiple times to get a meeting with Superintendent Kinsey-Barker, Superintendent Merrill, or our School Board Representative Zora Felton. They refused each time to meet with us, even after we let them know the petition was the next step and had an education attorney (working pro bono) contact them on our behalf to request a meeting one final time. Why Haven't I Heard About This Before Now? Your children's teachers are professional educators. They only confided in a few parents they knew they could trust. Those parents tried to insulate the greater Lead Mine population from what was happening. If It's So Bad, Why Isn't the PTA in Support of this Petition? The PTA Board of Directors is in a difficult position. They're required to represent the larger parent and teacher population, and they are bound by NCPTA bylaws to remain politically neutral. Still, we believe that you deserve to know what's going on and make your own decisions. What Are You Asking From Me Now? Please read the petition. Think about the content. Think about your children's teachers and the staff you love at Lead Mine. You don't have to sign it, but if you don't sign it, we ask that you send an email to any or all of the following decision makers. We want a meeting. If you're not comfortable recommending the Principal's removal at this time, that's ok. We need a meeting to express our concerns. The School Board and our Elected Officials should not be able to ignore us like this. pkinsey-barker@wcpss.net jmerrill@wcpss.net zfelton@wcpss.net Thank you, Parents for Leopards (parentsforleopards@gmail.com)