The Odyssey Charter School Education Association declared a vote of no confidence in the school’s Board of Directors. As well, they asked four members of the board to resign.
Note: AHEPA stands for American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association.
Dear President Wolcott and OCS Board of Directors,
This correspondence is being sent to you to ensure transparency and respectful communication in advance of the January Board meeting. The following information represents the collective voice of the voting members of the Odyssey Charter School Education Association.
As a result of certain distrust in certain board members, continued lack of transparency, the failure to put in place practices that would prevent improprieties or the appearance of improprieties concerning hiring an AHEPAN or financially benefitting AHEPA-affiliated projects, the Point of Order and resulting recall of the 3/4 super majority bylaw amendment, the restructuring to a dual-headed leadership model after stating restructuring would not occur, the proposal of a possible 3-headed model, an inadequate and questionable hiring process, limiting the opportunity for public comment, lack of thorough consideration of opposing points of view, and the inability to communicate a clear vision for future growth and success of our school, 70% of the voting members of the OCSEA offer a collective “Vote of No Confidence”. Complete results are as follows: 89/117 (76%) of members voted, 82/89 (92%) Voted in Support of No Confidence, 7/89 (8%) voted to abstain. While this vote may not have resulted in a favorable outcome for certain board members, it is certainly a significant component of the ancient Greek political and philosophical term “democracy”.
As a result, we respectfully ask for the resignation of Board President Josiah Wolcott, Treasurer George Hantzandreou, Michael Kirifides, and Michael Klezaras. This is not because of any dislike or bias against a certain group or individual, rather it is for the love of our school, community, and ultimately, our students.
We would appreciate the opportunity to speak with you about this vote and ensure our collective voices are heard.
Signed,
The Voting Members of the Odyssey Charter School Education Association
Teachers, staff, and parents have been disgruntled with the Board of Directors since last summer. The heart of their issues involved the Board President becoming a director at the school with a salary over $100,000. In October, the teachers voted to join the Delaware State Education Association and they formed the Odyssey Charter School Education Association.
Last month, at the December Board of Directors meeting, a member resigned over unethical and illegal practices by the AHEPA members of the board. Abigail LeGrow, a well-respected Delaware judge, resigned due to the Board President bypassing a bylaw that required 75% of the board to vote yes on any matter involving a financial benefit to AHEPA board members. She resigned at the meeting and said she could no longer discharge her fiduciary duty to the school or public given this development.
Odyssey put out a notice yesterday to teachers and parents to attend a forum to discuss these matters on January 15th.
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