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2/8/1987 Dear Community, Re: Vicki’s letter
requesting donations for the TSG School. There are some statements and assumptions in Vicki’s
letter that I would like to address. First, it is stated that donations have
fallen off because of Richard and the three ladies’ activities. It is only my
personal opinion, of course (and I welcome feedback) that indeed donations
have decreased not only because of RK, but the Trustees and the Group as a
whole have not lived up to people’s expectations, and are not as attractive
as they used to be as a viable place to donate funds to. We have seen open letters to the community from
Malcolm, The ladies, Richard, and Bob Machiz, all of which tell their own
stories as their authors see things. It is from the entire conglomeration
from all sources that people are making their decisions. If the Group is
experiencing such a decline in donations, they must realistically assume a
certain responsibility for their own conduct being the cause, in part. Vicki did a good service by providing a financial
statement of the school’s expenses for your information, but I think there is
a larger issue here. Richard’s letter goes on at length about how he feels some
TSG staff are doing a fine job in their positions, and others (Malcolm and
Machiz) are receiving disproportionately large incomes for the amount of work
they do. I would like to see another financial statement in which salaries
are looked at in depth. We are being asked to contribute money now to make up
for the recent decline in donations, and financial information on the school
is all the data provided, I think we need to look at financial information
for the entire TSG structure and way of doing business. Quite frankly, I am
concerned about the issue of financial integrity as raised by RK in his
letter, regarding a long history of questionable loans and fiscal practices.
We are being asked to give more money to the same people who managed money
under those circumstances. TSG has always made it clear that The Learning
Centers are “Their” projects and property. As such, it is fitting that TSG
make every effort “internally” to find the money to run their schools. It is
a value judgment. Which is a more appropriate expenditure of available
funds: The school and its staff, or high salaries for TSG executives? The
parents are already paying a burdensome tuition and asking more of them is,
in my opinion, unthinkable. At one of the earliest meetings of the Sons and
Daughters of Liberty, it was brought up by Patrick that with the unfolding
events in The Group, donations were bound to fall off, the school would
suffer, and we would be in danger of losing it. He said it was time to look
at this issue and begin thinking about creating a Community School. I heartily agree that the time has come for such a
move, I feel that we have gotten ourselves into a mental rut about our
educational system. We just accept the fact that “TSG provides the School.”
and now we are looking at how TSG get the funds to provide the school. This
is our timely opportunity to create a new reality, I see no reason why the
same amount of funds cannot be raised directly for our own educational
system, which can be truly a community school without being diverted to any
other entity for any reason. The Community itself is faced with a value judgment.
From our past experience, we know that things do not automatically survive
around here. We have lost the mart, the credit union, our own factory and a
myriad of other things over the years. The school is the last thing left. It
won’ t hang on long without funding from somewhere. Just how far from our
original dreams and purposes are we willing to veer? What ever happened to
the idea of free education for all? Two weeks ago, The Tri-county group that has been
meeting at the SFI building to brainstorm economic and community development,
voted to open a new account at the Kempton Bank which would be an independent
fund much like a local “United Way” fund to receive money to promote many
projects. You all received notification about this in your boxes. This fund
is only one of many possible resources that can be used by this community to
help solve this problem and get on with a positive alternative. Much
discussion is in order. Thank you for listening, Renee Trenda |
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