Following an emotionally charged town hall meeting about the imminent closure of the northern campus of the Anne and Max Tanenbaum Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto, TanenbaumCHAT’s board of directors sent a letter to parents at the northern campus saying it “did not adequately convey how saddened we all are by the need to close a cherished community institution.”
Attended by about 500 people, the March 14 meeting was held in the gym at TanenbaumCHAT’s Kimel Family Education Centre (TCK) in Vaughan. There, parents, teachers and students admonished the board for keeping them in the dark about the difficult situation the school was facing prior to the announcement of the closure.
READ: AT CHAT TOWN HALL, PARENTS AND STUDENTS ANGRY THEY KEPT IN DARK
On March 16, the board wrote in the letter that it had “reflected” on the meeting and added, “If we appeared to be at all insensitive to, or dismissive of, the families and staff of TCK in our presentation and in our attempts to answer the many questions that were asked of us, that was not our intention and we apologize.”
READ: A LETTER FROM A PAINED STUDENT ON CHAT NORTH’S CLOSURE
The letter was signed by the 18 members of the board. Underneath each signature, the members indicated which campus and years their own children had attended and whether they themselves are TanenbaumCHAT graduates.
The letter also acknowledged that parents felt they had not been sufficiently informed of the school’s situation and stated that, going forward, regular updates will be provided about the merger.
The letter continued: “Every two weeks, in the regular Friday newsletter, we will share an update of our plans moving forward. On an ongoing basis, we will invite your ideas, questions, and, of course, your assistance. Our goal is to maintain a good dialogue and together, build a strong, unified school for our children.”
