The entire staff of an Ohio preschool is taking a stand.
According to ABC affiliate News 5 Cleveland, all members of the preschool staff at St. Peter’s United Church of Christ in Amherst — including the principal and assistant principal — resigned at once last week over the church’s lack of transparency. leaders.
The school’s now-former assistant principal, Heather Nail, confirmed to the newspaper that the resignations were prompted by budget issues.
“Every year at the beginning of the new year you have to know what your budget is,” Nail said. “And when you don’t have a clear count of your numbers, it’s very difficult to start that year.”
She and the now-former principal, Wendy Kosakowski — who worked at the school for 18 years — confirmed that they had struggled with the budget for years and never got the answers they needed from the church council about any funding for the preschool. This, they said, brought them to a critical point and the decision to leave.
“We held our heads high and just walked away with our integrity and our morals,” Kosakowski told News 5 Cleveland, noting that the staff “appreciates everything” they’ve gained from working at the school together for 50 years. we gave life to those four walls,” Kosakowski said.
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Teacher Kerri Kobylka and assistant Taylor Stempowski also resigned when their colleagues did.
According to Kosakowski, her staff would come to meetings and ask where the money from fundraising specifically for preschool went and get no answers.
“We just decided we were tired of fighting to really find out what was going on,” she said.
Local parents also expressed their frustration with the situation.
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“I took him out of the program because all the teachers left,” mom Taylor Watson, whose older son previously graduated from preschool, told News 5 Cleveland about her younger son.
Jessica Pieciak, whose daughter just finished her sophomore year at the school, said she was disappointed that the staff and church leadership could not resolve their issues. “I think the main issue here is transparency,” she told News 5 Cleveland. “We collected funds for preschool education, not for the church.”
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Kosakowski said she empathizes with the families that make up the school community.
“It’s very sad for those parents who can’t find another preschool because they’re full,” she explained. “And those are the parents I’m really sorry for, and I’m really sorry for how this year ended. This is not how we wanted it to end at all.”
Teaching staff told News 5 Cleveland the church plans to continue operating the preschool with new leadership.
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Source: HIS Education