Dear CEMCS Parents,

In light of the current news that Ms. Tina's contract will not be renewed next year, I am writing to request your signature on a petition on behalf of the parents who supported our head of school, Christina Placek (Ms. Tina). Some of you are aware of the current situation at CEMCO, but many of you may not be.

In February, Ms. Tina was asked by the CEMCO Board of Trustees to take  a three week vacation. A formal reason was not given. On the eve of her return, April 7th, a note was put on her house door at 10:45 p.m. stating that she was being placed on administrative leave so that her evaluation could be conducted. The fact is that this evaluation did not occur until June.

The purpose of this petition is to reinstate Ms. Tina, as head of school and to replace the five current CEMCO Board members that made the decision not to renew her contract. To do so, we need the signatures of at least 50% of CEMCO parents.

A few of the factual reasons to support Ms. Tina's continued position as head of school are that since Ms. Tina has been at our school she has succeeded in getting Coastal Empire Montessori approved for two charters (a one year charter and a five year charter), rewrote the entire curriculum to match the state common core standards, and rewrote the policies and procedures for the school. In addition, she has built community partnerships with SCCPSS school district, the Georgia charter schools association, the State Charter School division with GADOE, and various other Montessori schools in both South Carolina and Georgia. In some way she has touched each of our children's lives through her kind associations. Even with all of her accomplishments thus far, there is still much work to be done to make Coastal Empire Montessori the best it can be and I believe that given the opportunity Ms. Tina will get us there.

It is believed that for various reasons the board has a bias towards Ms. Tina. One of the five board members who resigned from the board this year stated publicly during the May board meeting that the other members were on a "witch hunt" against her. Due to the nature of this situation and confidentiality, it is difficult to share details regarding the board and their actions. If the members of the board had good intentions, they should have put a stop to the situation that occurred regarding Ms. Tina and her administrative leave (hence the request for a new board).  

After reading the information above, I ask for your signature on this petition. If you have any questions or concerns after reading this message, please feel free to contact me at dbradley032@gmail.com and I will answer any questions that I am able to.
 
 
By signing this petition, I agree and fully support the decision to replace this board with a new board formed in accordance with the by-laws and re-establish Christina Placek as the head of school for the 2013-2014 school year.