PETITION FOR NEW BOARD MEMBERS

As the parents at Thunderbird Preparatory Academy, we are asking the board to comply with the bylaws for the charter school and approve new board members to ensure that we are in compliance with the N.C. Charter School laws and guidelines. We also request the hiring of board members so the school can move forward in a positive direction, allowing for board meetings to be productive and fair. Please read the petition below, along with the request for new board members to be approved:

The board has been lacking two members short of a seven-member board since September. The board has been in a stalemate for over 30 days since a third board member left, and is now three members short.

How Can the Board Help?

Thunderbird Preparatory Academy needs to continue to move forward and adhere to the charter’s bylaws. The charter’s board needs to have a minimum of 5 members, 1 of which should not have a child at the school. Specifically, we need to approve a board member with expertise in real estate development for the future growth needs of the school. After six months of waiting for one room to be opened, and months of having 50% of our 5th graders sharing one room and the teachers' lounge, and now 50% of our 5th grade class sharing a classroom in crowded conditions - we have lost faith and trust in this board's ability to get the job done for the upcoming 2016-2017 school year. No one on this board has any construction or real estate experience. This issue goes beyond the construction of the temporary 6th grade middle school, as the future of our permanent location and the buildings therein need addressing in the near future as well.

A board member with a solid background in real estate development, such as Mr. Brian Hines, is exactly what this board needs to ensure our rising 6th grade children will have a school and classrooms readied for them by the start of school in August 2016. We are desperate for a level of comfort in this process, and we know that Mr. Hines can provide that to us. Mr. Hines can also fulfill the requirement of a member without children at the school.

Without the assurance of an expert on this board for construction and real estate, many of us (5th grade families) will not return this fall. It would be a travesty for the wonderful class of 5th grade children, as well as other grade level children currently at TPA, to disband. We have all invested a lot in this school. As parents, we have invested the most important thing in our lives - our children. As much as we support and value TPA, and want it to thrive well into the future, we cannot risk our children to another year of instability and improper preparation.

Our Specific Request

We are asking the board to approve a real estate development board member within three days (1/31/16) and to approve two additional board members within seven days (2/4/16). The reason we are requesting this is because the board has not acted in a forward-thinking and beneficial way for the growth of our school by not approving additional board members over the past few months. We need to have additional board members in place to make fair decisions for our school, to abide by the charter’s bylaws, and to ensure future, positive growth for our real estate developments and facilities.