We learned from the Gazette on July 25th, that the city plans to allow the LaunchPad to build permanent housing for homeless young adults next to our preschool, Ruth Washburn. We don’t object to the city and the LaunchPad providing this service and applaud them for trying to do something, but we think placing this kind of housing next to ANY preschool, is a bad idea. In researching this, we found that the board of directors has known about this for some time and that our executive director has been openly supportive of the placement of the planned development – all without officially notifying parents or offering an opportunity for parent input. 

“Others can afford the luxury of deciding, in the abstract, which interests (child safety or homeless housing) is more important.” JG

Please share this with as many people you know, including current parents.

As a long time supporter of Ruth Washburn, parent of multiple children who attend/attended Ruth Washburn and past Ruth Washburn board member, I was shocked to discover the plan for a large housing complex for homeless young adults being built next door.  As a member of the co-op, my main grievance is why parents were never officially notified of the development? The director and board are very communicative about everything that happens at the school. Why not this time?

As a parent and co-op member, my core tenet is the safety of the children.  To make the statement that building an apartment complex for troubled young adults right next to a preschool will not result in additional risk to our children is wishful thinking at best. 

One of the core tenets of Ruth Washburn is that the school belongs to everyone in the co-op.  The director and board serve at the behest of the co-op at large and have a primary duty to the school.   Ruth Washburn is a co-op, not a dictatorship.  No one person gets to decide the fate of the co-op; Ruth Washburn belongs to all of us.  

Take a quick anonymous survey if you are for/against the planned development:
LINK to survey
Survey Results as of Saturday 8/5/2023

8/8/2023 City Council Meeting:
Amanda speaks
Kevin speaks

Local News:
Link to KOAA interview
Link to the Gazette article
Link to full Gazette interview

Link to Fox21 News Coverage

Local Discussion On NextDoor:
Link to discussion

Link to another site with lots of details on Launchpad:
https://www.integritymatterscos.org/the-launchpad

Why were parents never officially notified?

Timeline

• 8/9/2023 – Amanda’s questions on Next Door
  • 
  • 
• 8/8/2023 – We officially notify Ruth Washburn that we are leaving the preschool.
  • We have lost faith in school leadership (board and directors).
  • Due to our actions of speaking out, we feel there is no way we can send our kids to Ruth Washburn and be sure that our children will not be retaliated against.
  • We knew this was a possibility and sadly it has come to fruition.
  • 
• 8/8/2023 – City council votes 6-3 to approve the LaunchPad development
  • While we didn’t win, we will hold our heads high knowing we tried doing what we thought was right
  • Thank you to everyone who supported us
  • Special thanks to Dave Donelson and Tom Strand for standing with us
• 8/7/2023 – Ruth Washburn issues another statement of support for the LaunchPad before tomorrow’s city council meeting
  • Ruth Washburn still has yet to send a survey to all current parents, asking their opinions of the proposed LaunchPad development
    • 
• 8/7/2023 – Letter to Yemi Mobolade
  • 
• 8/5/2023-3pm – Thorndale meeting
  • We showed up and met about 20 members of the community
• 8/5/2023-12pm – LaunchPad meeting at Ruth Washburn
  • We showed up to a very small meeting of mostly board members and staff
  • We were greeted by a very kind police officer and were told we could not record todays meetings for other parents
  • No one was allowed to talk; only folks from the LaunchPad were allowed to speak
  • All questions had to be submitted in writing and any Ruth Washburn questions were refused answer until a later date
  • Questions that we asked
    • Is there any reciprocity (financial incentives, service exchanges, etc) agreement between Ruth Washburn and the LaunchPad?
      • The LaunchPad folks said no
    • How many parents that will have kids in the school are here?
      • No answer
    • Why were parents not notified about the original development?
      • No answer
    • Why won’t the school send out a survey?
      • No answer
    • Did you invite the entire co-op?
      • No answer, but we did some digging and confirmed the co-op was invited
• 8/4/2023 – Upcoming interview with KOAA this Sunday
  • Link to Interview
• 8/4/2023 – Amanda explains again that we followed policies and procedures by raising her concerns with both directors.
  • 
• 8/4/2023 – Amanda finds official co-op emails
  • Amanda has received all official emails from the co-op. She did find that 2 emails after 8/1 were ending up in her ‘junk’ folder.
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• 8/4/2023 – Amanda’s response to director’s 8/3 email
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• 8/3/2023 – Official story from the Gazette
  • Link to the Gazette article
• 8/3/2023 – Received this email from director in response to why Amanda was no longer receiving official school communications
  • 
• 8/2/2023 – Ruth Washburn officially calls a meeting this Saturday @ 12 pm
  • Only current parents are invited along with board of governors and Launchpad
  • While not ideal, we feel like this is a win to get all the parents together for a discussion.
  • Director and board are trying to limit any live discussion and requesting all questions be submitted in advance.
  • We will still have our meeting at Thorndale park @ 3pm
• 8/2/2023 – Interview with the Gazette
  • Link to Interview
  • Article should be out later this week
• 8/1/2023-12:44pm – 25 minutes after saying we would not meet a Ruth Washburn, I am sent this gem
  • 
  • • There is nothing political or partisan about this. We just wanted to get people together to discuss what we feel is an important topic and we have been completely vilified for doing so. We feel utterly heartbroken at this point.
• 8/1/2023-12:19pm – We notify Ruth Washburn that we will move our meeting
  • New location: southwest corner of Thorndale Park right down the street from Ruth Washburn.
  • 
• 8/1/2023-8:52AM We receive the following email telling us there will be no meeting this Saturday.
  • 
• 7/31/2023 – Discussion with new director
  • LINK to audio file
  • None of our concerns were addressed.
  • The director was more concerned about policy and procedure vs the future of Ruth Washburn.
  • We asked multiple times to include a survey in her “official” email. She refused and said anyone interested in providing feedback can talk to her directly.
    • Given how we have been treated, why would anyone dare provide any feedback that goes against the schools “official” position of unwavering support?
      
• 7/31/2023 – We have received some very nasty feedback:

• 7/31/2023 – Amanda replies to some of the really ugly emails we received
  • 
• 7/30/2023 – We officially decide to get involved:
  • We build this website
  • We send a group email using email addresses found in our 2021-2022 directory
    
• 7/28/2023 – Jen officially notifies the co-op via email:
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  • Instead of trying to dispel “misinformation”  why wasn’t a special meeting called with the co-op at the start of this and officially inform and encourage a healthy dialogue?
• 7/25/2023 – A concerned citizen writes a letter to the Gazette
  • LINK to Gazette Article

• 7/20/2023 – Jen and Angela write another letter to the community at large expressing complete support for the project
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• 9/26/2022 – Informal meeting on proposed project
  • LINK to video of meeting
  • Why were no Ruth Washburn parents invited to this meeting?
  • At 46:10 into the video someone asks: “The parents at Ruth Washburn are onboard as well?”
  • Jen starts responding and at 46:58 says “…140 families that we serve here it’s been overwhelmingly positive…”, trying to signal that a “majority” of the co-op is on board with this development.  She also goes on to say that she didn’t ask the board when indeed she had already brought this up during the previous month.
  • This matter has never been officially brought to the families that make up the co-op.
    • According to the Ruth Washburn bylaws, the co-op is to be officially notified of any special meetings.
    • Link to Ruth Washburn ByLaws
  • 

• 9/6/2022 – Jen sends a letter of support to the city
  • LINK to letter Jen sent the city

• 8/21/2022 – Ruth Washburn board meeting
  • Jen notifies board of her support of the project and no other action is taken
  • 
  • LINK to board of governors meeting minutes
  • Why didn’t the board feel the need to officially notify the co-op of the planned new development?

Contact Us

Feel free to reach out to me directly with questions and further information:

Kevin and Amanda Gigiano
kevin.gigiano+rw@gmail.com
719-428-5102

FAQ

• Who are we?
  • We are parents that have been a part of the co-op for the last 12 years.
  • 3 or our kids have attended Ruth Washburn and our youngest will start this fall.
• Why are we doing this?
  • We feel our concerns for the safety of our children aren’t being taken seriously by Ruth Washburn leadership (directors and board of governors) and time is limited to oppose this development.
• Will we share your email address with anyone else?
  • Absolutely not.
• Is this website approved by Ruth Washburn?
  • Absolutely not; desperate times call for desperate measures