Dear Casa Esperanza Montessori Charter School Board Members:

   We all want Casa Esperanza to be the best public Montessori Public Charter School it can be. It is in that spirit that we ask the board to reconsider the 2012-13 Uniform Policy and it's enforcement at this time. Since there was little parental input and no notification of the consideration of changes to this policy, parents felt left out of this discussion. With only four weeks notice given to parents of changes in the Uniform Policy and to the new enforcement of old, never-enforced requirements, the parents and children have experienced a great degree of uncertainty and anxiety. For now, this would mean only enforcing students wearing appropriate colors (navy bottoms – no sweat pants; white or red collared shirts; for MG – navy or khaki bottoms, & red, white, or navy shirts with a collar with no navy on navy combinations). Also, no licensed characters on any clothing or items at school and shoes would have a closed toe and heel with no more than a 1 inch heel.

  We ask the board to vote tonight to form a committee of many parents of various backgrounds, ethnicities, creeds, and races along with some Montessori educators to mold a new policy that incorporates the best of the old and new policies. This would be crafted after a survey of parents and teachers. The committee would write a simple, practical uniform policy. We ask that 30 days notice in advance of the board meeting be given via email and the school website of proposed Uniform Policy. We also desire for the teacher's main responsibility to be creating a Montessori environment and teaching our children – not recording or inspecting students for uniform violations. We also want the new policy compliant with the Federal Manual on Uniform Policies especially regarding inclusion of parents in the forming of the uniform policy, acknowledging student's 1st amendment rights to religious expressions, and addressing needs of families unable to afford uniforms.

  We appreciate your consideration and trust that we can keep the great Casa family working together towards the primary objective of a quality education.