Support Brian Rollfinke

My signature appeared on a separate petition but having just come across this one, and after the fact, I still must enter my heartfelt signature to those of others in recognition of such an egregious lack of ethics, due process and fairness when judging Mr Rollfinke.

My son attended Friends and was treated very unfairly when he was there. Mr. Rollfinke always spoke up for my son and was a great mentor to him as a homeroom teacher and middle school baseball coach. I hope that the other staff would STAND FOR SOMETHING and speak up! Unfortunately, the middle school wronged my child and staff were voiceless. If it's not you today, it could be you tomorrow.

It’s consistent with how Friends School treats faculty that doesn’t conform to their ideological view. Shame on you! #KAG!

(Further) evidence that the values and practices of Friends School administration are deteriorating by the day...

As the former chair of the Middle School Math department and the parent of a “lifer” (class of 2008), I was appalled to hear that the school has decided not to renew Mr. Rollfinke’s contract. Brian is one of the most dedicated teachers at the school and taught me so many creative approaches to teaching math. He developed the 7th grade curriculum and was constantly looking at ways to improve his class. It was important to him to give students a flavor of more than traditional math and he fostered many students who will view the subject enthusiastically through college. Through his approach he helped create lifelong thinkers, something Friends School supposedly values. In addition, he made sure that his students were well prepared for 8th grade Algebra. Brian worked alongside me one year, teaching a Pre-Algebra class that was particularly challenging. I was impressed with how committed he was to working with students who were struggling, always willing to lend a hand and sit down one-on-one to give extra support. Brian has taught more hours per cycle than many other middle school teachers because he passionately believed that his students should have a math experience every day rather than several times a week. In addition, Brian has always been responsive to his students’ needs. He was available during Morning Break, lunch and after school to help his students. Although I provided math help after school, most 7th graders preferred to sit in his classroom and get his personalized attention. At one point, Friends School had specialized classes to meet the needs of students who needed extra support in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade math and in a learning lab setting. It is my understanding that none of those classes exist now, an unfortunate loss for students who need a little extra to be successful. Brian taught the 7th grade version of this many years and worked hard to ensure that the students had a well rounded experience while getting some extra help.

To the Board of Friends School of Baltimore: We want to add our voices to those speaking out in support for Brian Rollfinke. In addition to all the time that Brian has spent teaching and coaching his students at The Friends School, he managed to allocate countless days and hours coaching In the Roland Park Baseball Leagues. Over the last 10 years, we have had the privilege of coaching alongside Brian. Thanks to Brian, our sons - and dozens of their friends - had the good fortune of playing together as a team for many years. In an age when young kids are pulled in so many directions and so many different activities, volunteering to play together year after year is rather uncommon. Without a doubt, Brian was the anchor that kept the core of young ball players and their families together. Brian’s love for the sport of baseball is second only to his dedication to the players and their families. All of us loved being part of team that is coached by Brian. We all knew we could always depend on his fairness, honesty, and commitment. Each player was recognized for their individual talents and appreciated for their unique character. Sometimes Brian would be there for words of encouragement, and other times with firm reminders, but always with the child’s best interest in mind. Winning on Brian’s teams was earned through teamwork and practicing good habits, but winning never came at the expense of fairness, or the game’s integrity. Regardless of their natural skills, all of our kids learned the game of baseball and the importance of team. Every kid had the opportunity to express an interest and try new field positions. It has been incredibly rewarding as parents and assistant coaches to see Brian’s patience and dedication to fundamentals with kids over the years culminate in the second nature good habits of young men. Brian was there to encourage and teach, win or lose, no matter what the outcome of the game, or player performance. Brian Rollfinke is a

As a recent lifer alum of Friends, I was disturbed in upper school as I saw the school slip further away from Quaker values under the current administration. There was a time when a junior was expelled for videoing himself revoltingly assaulting some girls, other boys covered it up and yet the head of school when he finally addressed Us told us only that “ a student would be leaving and that we should be extra kind to his friends who would be upset that he was going”. Afterwards female students literally felt assaulted by the callousness. I knew then that Friends School was not what it once was, at least not the administration. But I focused on so many wonderful teachers and students and graduated. But now I learn one of those teachers who makes Friends what it was, has fallen prey to the rot that has infected the administration. It seems the campus is angry and hurt and again discussion of issues is being squelched on false premises. It would be easy for me to just go on with my college life, but the world needs what Friends can be. I don’t believe nerdy Mr Rollfinke suddenly did anything horrid after 30 years. So why is Mr. Matt doing this? And why did he send the second really long letter using literally everything he could think of to justify it? It’s not quaker to double triple down on a mistake like that with no clarity or reflection. I’d like to suggest this could still be an opportunity. There are ways Quakers solve differences or if they can’t solve them just put them aside for a while .”seasoning” it doesnt seem after 3 decades there is some emergency! Unless it’s just another white man being stubborn. I have to be honest, that I felt that way too many times before at FS. It fell short of the ideals it preached and every student knew it. But there were also some teacher like BillHill and Raines and PNSJ and ... that were more than you could ask. But wrecking one of the best teachers and his family?! is the same great community I stayed for that is standi

Any teaacher facing allegations or complaints, no matter how serious, deserves a fair investigation before they are terminated.

I am a parent of two "lifer" graduates of Friends. I join in Paul Starr's comments. This situation shows the flaws of terminating an employee without a fair investigation, and without giving the employee a chance to respond to actual evidence. Friends can and should do better.

Friends needs more good instructors, like Mr. Rollfinke. "Acceptance" and tolerance, is not about always agreeing. It isn't even about "not ruffling feathers." It is about working together towards a common goal even while disagreeing. In this case, the common goal is teaching children.

I have no idea what the terms of the contract between the school and Brian Rollfinke include, but I have to believe, given the breathtaking speed with which the termination decision seems to have been reached, they do not include any meaningful grievance or appeal process. This is a subject about which I have significant, first-hand experience. For nearly twenty-two years I have represented labor unions. Through such representation, I have advocated on behalf of hundreds of individuals in what are known as grievance arbitrations—the universally utilized process for resolving disputes between employers and unions concerning the interpretation or application of a collective bargaining agreement—involving those individuals’ discharge from employment. I have worked with terminated employees in varied occupations and industries, from MTA bus operators in Baltimore City and stevedores in Dundalk to electric utilities workers in rural Southwestern Virginia and chicken catchers on the Delmarva Peninsula. In some cases, the discharge was deserved. In others, the employer positively wronged the employee, rocketing, in knee-jerk fashion, to summary termination, instead of employing the tools of perspective, deliberation, reasonableness, and thorough, even-handed investigation. But the wins or losses are beside the point. The point is that for these employees, whether discharge was ultimately justified or not, there was a meaningful, fair process in place through which to challenge what, in my line of work, is referred to as the “industrial equivalent of capital punishment” (that is, extinguishing an individual’s professional career). I hardly know Brian, so I do not write this from a biased perspective (though, in the interest of full disclosure, he currently teaches and coaches one of my children). Yet the issues arising from his treatment thus far compel me to speak out in an attempt to dissuade the school from taking a troubling turn—a turn away from the tho

Extremely disappointed in how Brian has been treated in the current situation. Brian has been and continues to be a great person, steward and representative of the Friends School. After devoting 31 years to an institution at the very least he deserves a fair and transparent process. We as a family feel lucky to have Brian as a friend, teacher and coach. I would hope the Quaker community which seeks to accept and understand before taking actions that affect the school, community and family.

This was an email I sent last week to Matt Micciche. This sums up my thoughts on the situation thus far. We are speaking about a person with a 31 year career at Friends School in Baltimore committed to enriching our children specifically in mathematics, baseball and life. Arguably, all 3 very critical aspects :)! Right now his career is being terminated for reasons we as a community do not understand. It is time we have a full disclosure of the events so that the community can understand the decision or quite possibly help lead to a more enlighten and just decision. This is not the Friends School I signed my children up for 8 years ago upon arriving to Baltimore with my wife Bethany. "Dear Matt: Was really hoping to make the 430pm meeting today. Would be great to speak in person about what a wonderful experience my children Jacob and Emma are having at Friends. Will not finish my operative cases today by 430pm and do not want to keep you waiting. It is ok not to reschedule. Will write you now what I would have wanted you to hear. I am sure you have been inundated with parent requests to speak. Secondary to my job at the hospital over the last 8 years I have missed so many things related to my children: parent teacher conferences, graduations, performances, sporting events. That is ok because my wife Bethany misses almost nothing. The children are lucky to have my wife and the great teachers at Friends. I went to Public School in New York through high school and then my first private school was Cornell. I have seen and heard just about everything from students and teachers alike. My father ran the NYC public school system as an administrator. Know all about unions and due process. My father Burt Sacks now is a senior administrator at City University of New York. He raised his son to never let something like this happen. In the past 2 weeks I have heard so much about Brian Rollfinke. Through parents of Friends, kids at Friends and my own I have le

Please give Mr. Rollfinke a fair chance to continue teaching and mentoring.

Friends has certainly abandon its Quaker ethics

I add my voice to the chorus of those who urge a timely response from the board/administration. We can't allow this uncertainty/anger to continue. It is not good for the School, its students, its teachers—or the Rollfinke family. Please give Brian Rollfinke the due process he deserves and move forward immediately with an appeals process!

Mr. Rollfinke has taught, mentored, inspired, guided, nurtured and challenged all 3 of our ‘lifer’ children. He is the best math teacher each child of all different abilities and mentalies had. When our chubby shy son with Tourettes was entering middle school, we requested Brian Rollfinke as his advisor because he was known to be the best, most dedicated and kindest teacher in the MS. Under his watch, although our son’s symptoms escalated with puberty, our Nicos grew in confidence and abilities. Mr. Rollfinke is both the one who taught him to tie a tie and who helped a kid with profound visual learning challenges find ways to self teach in visual classes like math. Due to his efforts, our son sailed through high track math, took advanced calculus as a junior, was a national Merritt scholar, and is now thriving at a highly selective college. Without the foundation and dedication Brian Rollfinke gave to our son he would not be where he is today as a scholar or a young man. He put in astounding effort and care, staying late as he always seems to do for that one student who needs it after all other the teachers have left. Mr. Rollfinke had equally important effects on our daughters. He showed Tricie, who never met a math assignment that didn’t reduce her to tears, that she could conquer anything. How many nights did she struggle and increasingly succeed because she knew Mr. Brian has her back. She was there more days than not after school for extra help and he was endlessly patient. Through this experience, she learned the benefits of taking on challenges. Without ‘Rollfinke math’, she would never had had the grit to go from wanting to quit Russian because it was hard, to becoming 1 of 4 American students representing the USA at the International Olympiada in Moscow. Our youngest Katie literally grew up with Luke, Brian’s son. It was Rollfinke math that turned her into a STEM girl. It was there that she found out how fun it was to challenge yourself and play wit

Mr. Rollfinke has taught, mentored, inspired, guided, nurtured and challenged all 3 of our ‘lifer’ children. He is the best math teacher each child of all different abilities and mentalies had. When our chubby shy son with Tourettes was entering middle school, we requested Brian Rollfinke as his advisor because he was known to be the best, most dedicated and kindest teacher in the MS. Under his watch, although our son’s symptoms escalated with puberty, our Nicos grew in confidence and abilities. Mr. Rollfinke is both the one who taught him to tie a tie and who helped a kid with profound visual learning challenges find ways to self teach in visual classes like math. Due to his efforts, our son sailed through high track math, took advanced calculus as a junior, was a national Merritt scholar, and is now thriving at a highly selective college. Without the foundation and dedication Brian Rollfinke gave to our son he would not be where he is today as a scholar or a young man. He put in astounding effort and care, staying late as he always seems to do for that one student who needs it after all other the teachers have left. Mr. Rollfinke had equally important effects on our daughters. He showed Tricie, who never met a math assignment that didn’t reduce her to tears, that she could conquer anything. How many nights did she struggle and increasingly succeed because she knew Mr Brian has her back. She was there more days than not after school and he was endlessly patient. Through this experience, she learned the benefits of taking on challenges. Without Rollfinke math, she would never had had the grit to go from wanting to quit Russian because it was hard, to representing the USA at the International Olympiada in Moscow. Our youngest Katie literally grew up with Luke, Brian’s son. It was Rollfinke math that turned her into a STEM girl. It was there that she found out how fun it was to challenge yourself and play with numbers. She is at the front of the protests, not ou

Mr. Rollfinke has taught, mentored, inspired, guided, nurtured and challenged all 3 of our ‘lifer’ children. He is the best math teacher each child of all different abilities and mentalies had. When our chubby shy son with Tourettes was entering middle school, we requested Brian Rollfinke as his advisor because he was known to be the best, most dedicated and kindest teacher in the MS. Under his watch, although our son’s symptoms escalated with puberty, our Nicos grew in confidence and abilities. Mr. Rollfinke is both the one who taught him to tie a tie and who helped a kid with profound visual learning challenges find ways to self teach in visual classes like math. Due to his efforts, our son sailed through high track math, took advanced calculus as a junior, was a national Merritt scholar, and is now thriving at a highly selective college. Without the foundation and dedication Brian Rollfinke gave to our son he would not be where he is today as a scholar or a young man. He put in astounding effort and care, staying late as he always seems to do for that one student who needs it after all other the teachers have left. Our daughters likewise benefited from Brian’s tireless patience and inspiration. Our Tricie,who never saw a math assignment that didn’t bring her to tears, stopped crying and panicking and gained not just skills but confidence. He was the first and only math teacher to make her feel like she had a partner in learning she could count on. More than that he showed her that not just math, but taking on challenging topics could be rewarding. When she went on to Upper School it was that revelation that took a B middle school Russian student and sent her on to apply herself which resulted in being 1 of 4 American students to represent the USA in the International Olympiada In Moscow. The lessons she learned from Brian’s dedication and willingness to challenge kids and have their back will be something she takes with her for life. What better time to show

Mr. R's positive impact on the development of so many of us can neither be diminished, nor taken away. I hope he is afforded every right to a fair process.