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Who We Are - This site was established in 2006 by individuals who have had connections with Goodpasture Christian School spanning a period of 40 years. These benefactors hold a conviction that the school must stay true to a mission of educational excellence in a Christian environment. The beneficiaries of the school's mission are its students, their parents and the alumni. Through the achievement of this mission, our children are better prepared to fulfill their futures as participants in God's plan. This site is not endorsed by or supported by Christian Schools, Inc. d/b/a Goodpasture Christian School. This site is not a school or a competitor of Christian Schools, Inc. This site exists for the First Amendment use, benefit and enjoyment of students, parents, alumni, teachers, employees, and anyone else that has an interest in, question about, or concern regarding this school. What We Stand For - Our mission is to promote and protect, to the extent possible, the interests of the students and the parents with a view towards improving the school by further progress along the path of academic excellence supported by open and honest discourse. It is recognized that many of the alumni, parents and students are hesitant if not fully constrained to honestly communicate their questions, concerns, and complaints to a teacher, a principal or even to the Administration for fear of retaliation from the school, faculty and even other students. As military tactics have established, an effective control technique and one that the Administration seems to employ historically is the tactic of "divide and conquer" or in this instance "divide and control." Too often, these individuals internalize their concerns and complaints because of a belief and perception that either the Administration will not take their concerns seriously and/or that those control individuals will intentionally retaliate against an innocent student merely because "negative comments" or "negative concerns" were expressed by a parent or the student concerning a teacher, a class, a coach, and/or other aspects of the school. It is not fair to the school - as an institution - for the concerns and complaints of the school's beneficiaries to be silenced because of a history or belief of retaliation or inaction by those who are in control of the school. Why Success is Possible - Goodpasture School is not a state funded institution. It is dependent entirely upon tuition payments from parents and charitable contributions from its donors and benefactors. Success is possible because the parents and donors control the financial lifeblood of the school. Charitable contributions cover only a small portion of the school's operating expenses. Substantially all operating funds, and thus the school's existence, depend on the receipt of tuition payments and a targeted level of enrollment. Thus, the parents hold a power collectively that they have been historically unwilling to either recognize or exercise with respect to Goodpasture Christian School and that power is the power of the purse. Parents, when they act in appropriate unison - not mob rule - have the power through their tuition payments to influence the Administration and the Board of Directors. History has shown in the spring of 2006 that the demands of the parents dictated the response of the Board of Directors as well as the Administration and that is why the ultimate power to control Goodpasture Christian School is vested in the parents. This should not be a foreign concept because it is the very concept upon which the Founding Fathers formed this United States. Constitutional law teaches that the citizens have the ultimate power but that they exercise that power through a representative form of republican government. At any time, as expressly set forth in the Constitution, the citizens can by appropriate action dissolve the government, limit its powers, or, as we tend to do in November, replace those who are in control of it. Perhaps the parents at Goodpasture need to read their civil history. The parents at Goodpasture must ultimately understand that they can seize control from an unresponsive Board of Directors and Administration through financial means and can thereby influence those individuals in those positions. Why Parents Must be Vigilant - Parents must recognize that their principal obligation is to do what is best within the scope of their power and resources to raise their children. Parents realize that obligation and for that reason Goodpasture unfortunately loses many students, particularly in the high school ages, to Metro's magnet schools, to other successful public schools and even to other, more expensive, private schools. Goodpasture cannot survive as merely a private school alternative to the public school system unless it offers substantially more to justify the added expense of tuition. That parental obligation to the child is greater than obligations, whatever they may be, to the Administration and the Board of Directors at Goodpasture. While parents have the power of the purse, Goodpasture parents have been conditioned otherwise and trained that they have no rights or powers. They generally ignore their inherent power as the consumer of educational services and sometimes abdicate their obligations as parents to those in control of the school without fully assessing whether they are satisfying their parental obligations. It could be argued that the school realizes that parents generally cannot effectively act alone because the impact of a few lost tuition dollars is immaterial to the school. Parents that appropriately act is unison of sufficient numbers can satisfy their obligations as parents and can influence the course of the school. Parents must be free to assess the status of the school, must discuss and investigate their concerns with other parents and, if it is determined that a material consensus does exist, they should consider making a demand for change to the Administration and the Board of Directors. That change may even be calling upon the Board of Directors to make substantial changes in the Administration and even of the Board itself. Indeed, at Goodpasture there has been a history of Board power being concentrated in only a few men who have persisted as "the board" now for decades. Fostering open communications without fear of retaliation from those whose job it should be to provide educational services in a Christian context. This site has been privately funded with a view towards furthering the mission of the school by providing important information to these beneficiaries and by providing a means for these beneficiaries to communicate their comments, concerns, fears and problems without oversight of or censorship from the Administration and with confidentiality from the Administration when desired. This site is created and given as an opportunity for the parents, students, alumni and even the employees of Goodpasture Christian School to have a forum, which provides confidentiality to those participating in it, if so desired, for the discussion of their concerns about the school of all types without fear of retaliation with a view towards seeking out an appropriate solution to these concerns. This site is not under the control of Goodpasture Christian School, its Administration or its Board of Directors. Individuals may fully access the information on this site and even post additional information in the forums without having to register for access. However, any materials which are offered for inclusion in this site may be removed in the discretion of the Webmaster and the administrators. It is our intent, however, that discussion be allowed with minimal censorship. |
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