05/01 Update
Image Credit: The Source II by Margo Inglis Lehman '78
Dear Friends,
Yesterday was quite a roller coaster of a day, and I want to acknowledge the emotional weight of this journey. It's worth remembering that this Coalition formed to be a voice for people who deeply love this School, disagree with letting it die, and want to ensure its survival and renewal. This. work. is. hard.
And while yesterday was a lot…today?
Today was a deep turn in the direction we’ve been trying to go.
We are making progress, and tonight, as I write this letter to you, I am more confident than ever that the rest of our goals are going to be acheived.
I wanted to update you as we enter a critical new phase in our work to support and restore Sandy Spring Friends School. As expected, we are moving forward with the governance portion of our goals. Effective governance is the foundation for ensuring transparency, accountability, and long-term stability. Unlike the financial and legal phase where fiduciary responsibilities limit transparency, this governance phase creates an opportunity for greater openness and community involvement in shaping the School's future.
As the School mentioned yesterday, we anticipate the Coalition leadership will support governance change by using three board seats that will form a supportive, transitional, and strategic foundation for the governance changes we expect and want to move forward in the rebirth of Sandy Spring Friends School. Through this change in relationship, our goal is to support the vetting process for the right people in the right places in the Board-at-large for the new fiscal year that starts July 1.
We have always believed that everything this community needs has always been right here among us, and we are grateful to be connected in the ways we have over the last two weeks to make it possible to save our School.
Housekeeping- Two big questions answered
Yesterday, there seemed to be the most confusion about pledges, the $15 million, “Angel Donor Board Seats,” etc. Here are two questions answered that I hope clear this up for good.
How much money has been secured?
As both the Coalition leadership and the School have said since announcing the 15 million achievement, the Coalition has secured $15+ million in solid pledges, which can be donated directly to the school now for those who are comfortable. To give the banks and the institution immediate confidence to reverse the closure decision, a private family/Foundation provided a guarantee: If the full fundraising target isn't met, they will backstop the difference up to a significant amount over three years (the final figure is still being determined).
This guarantee was critical in allowing the institution to move quickly toward a public reversal. Moving forward, leaders of the Coalition, School, and Supporting Partners (working together as one team) are committed to completing the full fundraising effort. The goal is to raise enough over the next several years to address immediate needs and fully replenish and stabilize the institution's financial reserves. Actual target numbers have not been determined yet.
THIS HAS NOT CHANGED SINCE THE REVERSAL OF THE DECISION TO CLOSE THE INSTITUTION. (I am not usually an all caps person but I feel like sometimes being shouty is okay and this sentence needed to be a little shouty 😃)
Does an angel donor get a Board seat?
I want to be clear that all pledges, all donors, those considered “angel” or otherwise, are all members of the Coalition. Remember, when we started this, the school was closed. They could not accept a pledge. All of us are united in the Coalition, and there is no distinction between an angel donor and the 80% of pledges that are less than $1,000.00! The board seats that will be used to support the governance changes we have discussed from day 1 are not for “angel donors” who have “bought” board seats. Any other characterization of what is happening is incorrect. Like and subscribe, screenshot and share, do whatever might be needed to send this message to whomever needs to see it! These sorts of stories are little cancers in the community, and we need truth to clear them away.
We good? At least on those notes, I hope.
Soon,
Heather ‘00
Coalition Team
Friends of SSFS
Teal green background with white text that reads a quote by Aiko Bethea, “Deep transformational change is never transactional. It is always relational.”
