Do you want KCSD stakeholders to have more clout in KCSD’s decision-making?

Do you think KCSD’s Board of Education (BOE) and Administration have fallen short in providing transparency and adequate communication to stakeholders around their decisions and actions?

Do you question KCSD’s new Shared Decision Making Plan? Or their recent decision to abruptly end the Montessori program at George Washington Elementary School (GW)? (See below for some background info on these issues.)

If you do.... READ ON for how you can ACT NOW to help build a more collaborative school system where our VOICES COUNT and our PARTICIPATION MATTERS!

NEW STRATEGY!

Many KCSD stakeholders have spoken up in the past about issues of inclusion, communication and transparency, in the contexts of Shared Decision Making, the Montessori program, and other topics as well. Stakeholders have respectfully voiced concerns, challenged, and made requests to KCSD through proper avenues of public comment at BOE meetings, letters to the BOE and Administration, and signed petitions - to little or no avail.

A group of KCSD stakeholders concerned about these issues have taken a new unprecedented action to be heard and to hold KCSD accountable for actions neglecting inclusion for stakeholders and transparency. This group has filed a class action Appeal with legal representation with the NY State Commissioner of Education to contest KCSD’s new Shared Decision Making Plan (SDMP) and also KCSD's decision to end the Montessori program. Since KCSD's actions regarding the Shared Decision Making Plan and the Montessori program demonstrate systemic lack of inclusion, transparency and accountability which impacts ALL KCSD stakeholders, this Appeal is a class action. While this action is using legal representation, it is NOT a lawsuit.

This Appeal is taking stakeholders’ actions to another level - beyond the district level, up the chain of command, to the state level. An Appeal is how district stakeholders ask the NY State Education Department to step in and weigh in on their concerns. The NY State Commissioner of Education reviews and makes decisions on the Appeal. The Appeal process is multi-step which may take considerable time. The initial steps were filed in early July.

This Appeal specifically requests:

Beyond the scope of KCSD, this Appeal process could clarify and help close loopholes in state rules that some administrators across New York have used to ignore teachers’, parents’ and students’ voices in district decision-making. If this Appeal is successful, Kingston could help set a statewide precedent which ensures community voice in public education!

ACT IN SUPPORT - NOW!

Additional KCSD stakeholders are supporting this action by helping to inform community members and raise funds to cover the costs of carrying out the Appeal. This STAND UP for INCLUSION and TRANSPARENCY! GoFundMe is a primary fundraising effort for this Appeal. You can ACT NOW in support of the Appeal by contributing to this GoFundMe. Contributions of any amount will help strengthen the ability to fully carry out this Appeal. Due to the multi-step process of the Appeal - both immediate and future donations are needed to reach the goal for each step. Keep your eye out for updates on this GoFundMe and also other upcoming fundraising activities supporting this Appeal effort!

Donations to this GoFundMe Fund will pay for:

The listed Organizer of this GoFundMe, who is acting as treasurer for this Appeal effort on behalf of all involved and supporting stakeholders, is managing this GoFundMe. Donations to this GoFundMe Fund are transferred by GoFundMe to a bank account that is used only for receiving funds from this GoFundMe Fund and making payments for incurred costs described above. The listed Organizer is managing the bank account which includes monitoring donation funds and making payments for incurred costs using paper checks or electronic bank transfers.

SOME BACKGROUND INFO for APPEAL

Shared Decision Making Plan

Sometime this Spring, KCSD publicized its new Shared Decision Making Plan on the KCSD website (see https://www.kingstoncityschools.org/plans-policies-and-procedures/shared-decision-making). This Plan outlines ”the participation by teachers and parents with administrators and school board members in school-based planning and shared decisionmaking.” However, many KCSD stakeholders think this plan is in fact NOT in keeping with Shared Decision Making. Here are some reasons why:

Some stakeholder SDMP committee members participating in drafting the plan had input, questions, concerns and objections to both procedures and specific plan content which were dismissed by Administration during the drafting process. In addition, SDMP committee members did not actually approve the draft prior to it being finalized by Administration. They also were not specifically notified that a final plan was submitted to the BOE for vote, about the upcoming BOE vote on the plan or the BOE’s passing vote, or that the plan was posted on the KCSD website. As for specific content of the plan, most concerning is "final authority on all matters rests with the Superintendent and the Board of Education.” This means ultimately KCSD can decide whatever they want about everything regardless of any stakeholder input - essentially making stakeholder participation and input meaningless.

Decision to End the Montessori Program

In June, the BOE abruptly voted to discontinue the 18 year old Montessori program at GW. This decision defied transparency and stakeholder inclusion in many ways including instances below.

KCSD did not provide prior agenda listing or other public notice of an upcoming BOE vote on the status of the Montessori program. The unannounced BOE vote took place on the same evening as the scheduled GW Family Engagement Night which many GW parents were participating in. The vote also took place after the 2025-2026 School Year Budget was already passed by KCSD taxpayers.

KCSD’s decision was based on rationale (program expense, difficulty teaching multi-grade classrooms, poor student performance, and BOE’s desire for all elementary schools to use the same curriculum) that many KCSD stakeholders find unsubstantiated. KCSD has repeatedly refused to release data for these rationale for community and independent review.

KCSD has also not adequately addressed additional stakeholder concerns. Prior independent evaluations from outside KCSD as well as stakeholders’ research have actually found that 1) KCSD NOT fully supporting the Montessori program and NOT carrying out commitments they have made, as has happened in the last 6 years at least, has contributed to current challenges and shortcomings at GW, and 2) Significant successes have occurred from when the Montessori program was more or fully implemented in the past. GW’s Building Leadership Team, where some stakeholder input and discussion could happen, was mysteriously disbanded earlier in April.

Ending the Montessori program means families would lose an alternative option for elementary education which has served many students well in the past. The current GW community, blindsided by and unprepared for this abrupt decision, faces significant disruption. Also the substantial taxpayer investment in the program (in materials, teacher certifications, program and staff development) made over almost two decades would be wasted.

For any QUESTIONS/CONCERNS/COMMENTS regarding this GoFundMe, please contact the listed Organizer.