To Nate, Marilyn, and other CBA administration,

This letter is delivered to you as a signal of our loving support for the family of Sophie and Thomas White in the face of last week’s security incident, and as a respectful request to end their suspension and have them return to class at CBA as soon as possible.

While CBA reviews its risk procedures and policies in relation to this incident, we would like it to be known that no parent who has signed this letter considers Sophie or Thomas to be a risk to the safety of anyone at CBA. We all recognize this as an unfortunate incident in which there was no wrongdoing on the part of the children involved, and we would like to see them be allowed to return to class.

We recognize the complexities of managing security at a school in today's world, and we are very appreciative of the school's efforts and diligence in this area to keep our students safe. In this case, as parents, we are struck by the fact that these children did exactly what they were supposed to do in this situation - they immediately told a teacher. As we talk to our own children about this situation, we want to be able to reinforce to them that alerting a teacher or other authority is absolutely the right thing to do - and that messaging is difficult to manage if Sophie and Thomas are being punished, rather than recognized for making the right decision at a difficult time. Some parents signing this letter were surprised to learn that Sophie and Thomas were suspended despite the evidence they were not at fault.

Moreover, we all were drawn to CBA because of the promise of community, a community where we support each other, where we walk hand in hand with other CBA families in grace and love. Again, in a situation where we see no wrongdoing on the part of the children and no risk from having them in class, we would like to see Sophie and Thomas and their family wrapped in that grace and allowed back in class. Our CBA community is richer for having Sophie, Thomas, and Charity as a part of it, and we would like them to return as soon as possible.

This letter is written, not to cause divisiveness in the CBA community over this situation, but because we recognize that there may be outspoken voices expressing fear over the perceived risks of having Sophie and Thomas back in class. We don’t want those to be the only voices you hear. We would like CBA administration to realize that, for those of us who have signed this letter, we see no good in continued consequences for the children, and our only concern is that these children should be allowed back into class to as soon as possible to minimize the disruption to their education.

Thank you for hearing us.