SAVE THE BLUE MOUNTAIN SCHOOL!

The ONLY publicly funded American school using the Sudbury Valley model is in danger of losing it’s funding. I’ve posted the e-mail I received asking for support, as well as the e-mail I wrote to help. If you’re moved to help, you have to act fast!

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After the Oregon State Department of Education issued a proposed final order in favor of Blue Mountain School (BMS) citing that it was wrongfully terminated by the local school district, the future of the school is still in the hands of the local school district. In order for BMS to continue, a majority YES vote by the board is needed to renew the school on July 7th. The local school district’s recent site visit report to the board included inaccuracies that ended up making the school look bad, when in fact, very significant improvements were made. If the board doesn’t approve the renewal on July 7th, the school will submit an appeal to the state and will be funded only until the state makes a decision. If the state rules in the school’s favor as it did before, it can only tell the district to reconsider; it has no power, and the school will have lost it’s funding.

So, parents and Blue Mountain supporters have been reaching out to board members to listen to their concerns in hopes of getting a YES vote at the July 7th renewal meeting.

An inside source (who cannot be named) from the State Department of Education let on that your letters, your emails to Susan Castillo made an impact, a big difference.

I’m here with one knee on the ground and the words “pretty please.” I’m asking if you would send a short, friendly email to the South Lane Board Members, and ask them to renew the school at the July 7th meeting. I did forward all of your previous letters but a direct email from you (with your city/state) will be hard to ignore. It is powerful when people come together.

You have already shared your valuable time and it’s hard for me to ask for more. It is a matter of one vote, just one other YES vote from a previously unsupportive board member. That’s what we need, and we ask you to help us do that.

Please consider sending an email to the following addresses.

Thank you sincerely.

Therese Nguyen, Blue Mountain parent
tompatmcvey@msn.com
cheryl@breedenhomes.com
sherry@duerst-higgins.com
jraade@southlanefire.org
jim@cybernos.com
iamcarrie@oip.net
ruby56@gmail.com,
kparent@lane.k12.or.us

=================[My Letter of Support]========

To The Members of The South Lane Board:

I’m writing to passionately urge you to renew the funding
for the Blue Mountain School on July 7th. The world-wide
democratic school movement is growing steadily
and keeping this school funded is powerful message
to the community that children CAN be trusted
to be far more involved in the central policies
of their communities, and that they can be fully involved
in the creation of their unique educational curriculum itself.

I teamed up with several Oscar winning colleagues
to make a feature film called “Schooled,” that was
inspired by the success of this unusual education model.
The film has screened all over the world, including Europe, Australia,
and several US cities like: New York, LA, San Francisco, Dallas,
and many others. We’ve got another screening coming up
in Germany in a few weeks.

Although this approach to education is significantly different
than the traditional model, it still works wonderfully.
Several alumni from these schools actually helped
make the film, on both sides of the screen,
and they were FULLY educated, and FULLY prepared
to do any of the tasks we needed them to do.

For more info on the film and the
people who made it you can click here:
www.SchooledTheFilm.com
www.imdb.com/name/nm0255484/

Again, I urge you to do everything in your power
to maintain the funding for the Blue Mountain School on July 7th.
In my view, not only does this education model work,
it’s actually the best education model I’ve ever
come across, in regard to preparing kids
for a lifetime of satisfying, productive citizenship
in the Information Age.

Please keep this education option alive!
The kids who want it are depending on you.

Very best,
Brooks Elms
writer-director-producer
“Schooled”