Dear Penn Charter Community,
As promised, I am writing to follow up on my earlier correspondence about Black Lives Matter and social media posts from OPCs regarding sexual harassment and violence.
Since my letter two days ago, we have learned of additional social media posts about racism and sexual misconduct, including several current or former students who posted about sexual harassment or assault by PC students. The pain expressed by our students and graduates in these posts is heartbreaking.
In addition, one of the posts raised concerns about the conduct of a current Penn Charter employee. Please know that we are carefully reviewing the information being shared publicly and we are following our school policies to guide our response to this and all reports. That response includes seeking additional information from students or other individuals about specific concerns raised on social media or directly to the school.
In addition, as part of Penn Charter's interest in better understanding the culture and climate our students experience within our school, we encourage all PC students, families, alumni, staff and faculty to share your experiences or perspectives about race, sex, gender or other concerns that impact(ed) your physical or psychological safety or your experience at PC.
We are providing several opportunities to be heard, including anonymous options, in hopes of receiving candid feedback. These opportunities augment, and are not intended to replace, the listening sessions, Meetings for Worship, and group and interpersonal dialogue already underway. Many of us have been speaking with current students, OPCs, parents and different faculty work groups.
Here are three additional ways you can enter into this dialogue and speak your truth:
Contact the school directly. You can share your experiences with any of the following people:
Contact the following external professionals, whom we have engaged to create a space for individuals to come forward who might wish to maintain their anonymity or report to an individual outside of the school:
Share information online, anonymously or with your contact information, at this survey. The information in this survey will be monitored by Sherry Coleman and Jennifer Bullock, the external professionals named above.
As a reminder, all Penn Charter employees are required by Pennsylvania law and Penn Charter policy to report suspected abuse and neglect of a minor. We encourage PC community members to similarly report any potential abuse, neglect or criminal conduct to child protective services and local law enforcement authorities. You may report suspected abuse or neglect of a minor to the Pennsylvania ChildLine and Abuse Registry at 800-932-0313 or electronically through the Child Welfare Portal. Consistent with our practice, we will share information gathered in this review as required by state law.
Seeking truth, making amends, and making change is the difficult work that we must do as a school.
It is our hope that information gathered through this work will both acknowledge the pain of those adversely affected and determine a way forward to inform our actions, adjust our curriculum and improve the culture of Penn Charter.
Sincerely,
Darryl J. Ford |