2018+Pursuing+excellence+in+education

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= Loudoun Education Alliance for Parents June 6, 2018 meeting update =

We'd like to congratulate Wendy Lane and Sara Hiltner on their election to the positions of LEAP VP of Programs and LEAP Treasurer during last night's business meeting at Rust Library. We are still looking for individuals interested in serving in the VP of Communications and the Secretary role. Please forward this information to anyone who may be interested as we will be holding elections for these positions during our first meeting in the fall of 2018. The current LEAP executive committee is as follows:

President: Brian Davison VP of Comms (1st VP): vacant VP of Programs (2nd VP): Wendy Lane Secretary: vacant Treasurer: Sara Hiltner Past President (member of exec comm): Stephanie Eskins Gleason

During last night's meeting, we also received feedback on proposed meeting topics for 2018-2019. I am attaching the potential list of meeting topics for 2018-2019. We received positive feedback for topics numbered 1, 4, 6, 7 and 9. If you have any input for the executive committee to consider over the summer, including topics not mentioned on this list, please email us directly.  

I'd also like to thank school board member Tom Marshall for attending the meeting last night. School board members and Loudoun Supervisors are always welcome as we hope to start a conversation on pressing educational issues that students, parents and educators face today. We look forward to seeing more school board members next year.

Parent groups (PTAs, PTOs) are responsible for assigning your own delegates. We are in the midst of updating the delegate directory and have attached a delegate registration form. Please email an updated to either this address (LEAP.news@gmail.com) as you assign new delegates for the 2018-2019 school year. We will be posting a list of delegates (without including your email address) online so a current list is always available. Note that parent groups are always entitled to 2 delegate votes at each meeting so feel free to assign alternates who may be able to attend on the form as well.  

Lastly, we wanted to let everyone know that the LEAP webpage on the LCPS website (https://www.lcps.org/domain/99) is no longer controlled by LEAP officers and currently has false information. The statement posted on the page was not made or authorized by actual LEAP officers. We are attempting to work with the LCPS administration to have updated, accurate information posted to the page. However, we plan to utilize a variety of online tools (online wiki, Dropbox, Facebook/Twitter) to publish information going foward. Please Like/Follow/bookmark the following resources to stay updated on the latest LEAP information.

LEAP Wikispaces: https://loudouneducationalliance.wikispaces.com/2018+Pursuing+excellence+in+education

<span style="display: block; font-family: georgia,serif,serif,EmojiFont;">LEAP Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LCPS.LEAP

<span style="display: block; font-family: georgia,serif,serif,EmojiFont;">LEAP Twitter: https://twitter.com/leaploudoun

<span style="display: block; font-family: georgia,serif,serif,EmojiFont;">Thank you again and stay tuned for more information on topics for the 2018-2019 school year. We are excited about the outside, independent experts to be included in our LEAP meetings going forward.

<span style="display: block; font-family: georgia,serif,serif,EmojiFont;">Brian Davison <span style="display: block; font-family: georgia,serif,serif,EmojiFont;">LEAP President, 2018-2019

May 2018 Update
We will be holding the final LEAP business meeting of the year at Rust Library at 6pm. You may also join the meeting via a Zoom conference call invite below. During this meeting, we will hold elections (candidates permitting) for Vice President of Communications, Vice President of Program, Treasurer and Secretary. If you or another individual is interested in serving, please pass this information along. All members of the public are welcome to attend. Only delegates or alternate delegates, as assigned by their parent group, can vote for LEAP officers.

LEAP's June 6, 2018 Business Meeting June 6pm - Rust Library and virtual participation
Time: Jun 6, 2018 6:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: https://zoom.us/j/903431586

Or iPhone one-tap : US: +14086380986,,903431586# or +16465588665,,903431586# Or Telephone: Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location): US: +1 408 638 0986 or +1 646 558 8665 Meeting ID: 903 431 586 International numbers available: https://zoom.us/u/dsbbviC7e

We will also be discussing LEAP meeting topics for the first few months of 2018-2019. Over the summer, we will form additional ideas to fill out the remainder of the year. However, to organize the fall meetings, we need to settle on the first few topics.



Finally, here is a LEAP delegate form that can be used to register delegates, and alternate delegates, for each school parent group. If your school group has identified new delegates this spring, please fill out this form and return. If you are continuing to serve as a parent group delegate from the fall of 2017 (and will assign new delegates in the fall of 2018) and are not sure if you are registered, please return this form with your current information. We will be posting a complete list of delegates (absent your personal info such as email addresses) to the LEAP website. We also want to make sure each delegate and parent group receives the latest information.

Please let us know if you have any questions. Thanks again for your interest in LEAP and we look forward to seeing you next Wednesday.

Notes from the May 9, 2018 LEAP meeting
This summary of the May 9, 2018 meeting is provided simply for informational purposes. Past events will in no way effect the future course of LEAP. These events are now a distraction and we request everyone move forward to make LEAP an effective organization at engaging the public in educational topics. But in the interest of transparency, this summarizes the events leading up to and occurring at the May 9, 2018 meeting.

As many of you know, some conflicts within LEAP arose during the 2017-2018 school year. Following a December 2017 LEAP meeting in which some LCPS officials objected to the speakers, 2 members of the LEAP executive committee sought to placate LCPS objections by replacing the 2017-2018 meeting topics with a new topic list approved by LCPS officials. When the other LEAP executive committee members resisted, including President Stephanie Eskins Gleason, Tonya Mead and Michelle Leffler sought to prevent President Eskins Gleason from continuing to serve in her role. However, neither Mead nor Leffler followed LEAP bylaws that govern how officers are elected and/or replaced. Thus, President Eskins Gleason continued to serve as the duly elected President of LEAP for the duration of the 2017-2018 year despite Mead and Leffler excluding her from executive committee meetings and decisions. Much of this has been reported in the local newspapers.

I became concerned that Mead and Leffler, with the apparent support of LCPS officials who objected to any LEAP topic that might disclose district shortcomings, were effectively staging a coup against the properly elected LEAP officials. I sent an email to the executive committee asking them to comply with their fiduciary duties specified in the LEAP bylaws. This included recognizing Eskins Gleason as President and allowing her to run LEAP meetings. I informed Mead and Leffler that if they would not comply with the bylaws, I may pursue legal remedies to enforce the LEAP bylaws. I received no written response to my email. Most of you were copied on this email.

At the beginning of the May 9, 2018 meeting, Vice President Mead called the meeting to order despite President Eskins Gleason sitting in the front row and asking to conduct the meeting. I raised a point of order with Mead requesting she follow the bylaws and allow Eskins Gleason to conduct the meeting. Mead refused to respond to my point of order. (a point of order takes precedence over all other business and may not be simply ignored) Instead, Mead proceeded to read in full my prior email to the executive committee. Mead then read a self-described "internal report" that included a variety of allegations of why Mead and Leffler believed Eskins Gleason should have been deposed as LEAP President. There was no mention of the LEAP bylaws or any authority which would allow Mead or Leffler to arbitrarily replace Eskins Gleason as President. However, during her speech, Mead actually referred to Eskins Gleason as "President" of LEAP numerous times including during events in the spring of 2018. Yet, Mead consistently refused to allow Eskins Gleason to conduct the meeting. After 30 minutes, Mead informed the audience her child had an AP test in the morning and inexplicably excused herself from the meeting.

Following Mead's departure, President Eskins Gleason stood and began conducting the meeting from the front of the room. She informed the audience that LEAP traditionally elects new officers during the May meeting and that LEAP had previously called for nominations. No officer nominations had been received for the 2018-2019 year. Given her interest in educational policies and prior attendance, I nominated Beth Barts for LEAP President. However, since nobody was sure of her interest, the nomination failed for lack of a second.

Meanwhile Michelle Leffler had stepped to the podium and, without any authority under the LEAP bylaws, attempted to conduct the meeting. When Leffler realized the room was paying attention to Eskins Gleason, she attempted to adjourn the meeting despite not serving as the presiding official. Several attendees did leave the room but President Eskins Gleason continued to lead the official meeting. Given no LEAP officers had been elected for the 2018-2019 school year, I self-nominated myself for President. As a Dominion HS delegate, Eskins Gleason seconded the motion. We then voted and no objections were noted. I was elected President for the 2018-2019 school year. No other individuals were nominated for officer positions. The meeting was then officially adjourned.

This entire set of events was recorded and can be made available to anyone who requests a copy. The recording can also be used in case anyone challenges the vote taken at the meeting. Please be patient as we elect a full set of officers and update all of the LEAP web pages.

** How can I participate if I'm not a delegate? **
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