Kilmer parents respond to anonymous post

Dear Community,

We were saddened to read the letter from “Kilmer families” posted on the Patch bulletin board. As parent representatives of the School Parent Council and the School Site Council the letter does not represent our experience of the Kilmer. We were also discouraged that this was the first we have heard about this level of distress and concern within our community. We encourage the author or authors to use the confidential and public avenues available to them to have their concerns heard and addressed. The Kilmer has a parent liaison who gathers confidential feedback from families and participates in both the SPC and SSC meetings, the Superintendent’s office also has an ombudsman who can help address concerns, and all SPC and SSC meetings are open to families, Kilmer staff and the community and published in the Kilmer Community News. We would welcome the opportunity to work on and address any and all of the issues raised in the letter in a constructive manner that will move our community forward.

Finally we recognize that no school community is perfect. There will always be disagreements about the best course of action. That said, this year under the leadership of Emily Berman we have seen tremendous improvements in transparency, communication and the ability to engage in difficult conversations as a school community. There is still much we would like to see done at the Kilmer to make it a model of excellence. Mary Driscoll and Emily Berman have been open, approachable and professional in every interaction as we strive to improve our school community. That their reputations have been called into question in such a public forum by an anonymous individual or individuals is not representative of the community we hope to create or the example that we wish to set for our children.

Sincerely,

Christine Narbunshart, SPC Co-chair
Sheri Nelson, SPC Co-chair
Christina Butler, SPC Secretary
Shalini Regan, SPC Treasurer
Kristin McSwain, SSC Parent Co-chair
Minnie Bareng, SSC Parent Representative
Nicole Bernier, SSC Parent Representative
Phoebe Bustamante, SSC Parent Representative
Anna Dore, SSC Parent Alternate
Andrea Jorgensen-Perry, Parent SSC Alternate
Masai King, SSC Parent Representative
Roxanne Saravellas, SSC Parent Representative
Karimah Williams, SSC Parent Representative
Kathleen Jarvinen, Parent Liaison and Citywide Parent Council Representative