Esteem Directors: Robert J. Oster, Diego Arambula, Lizzie Choi, Steven Humphreys, Anisha Munshi, Andy Thompson, Blake Warner & Diane Tavenner,

Last week, school management announced that Summit Denali will be closing its operations after the current academic year ends in June 2023. Over 677 families are stranded with their immediate academic future, and will lose their most loved school ripping apart the schools’ close-knit communities and leaving 5% of Santa Clara County’s charter school students scrambling to find new schools.

This impacts our Denali community of 677 students of which 25.6% are Socioeconomically disadvantaged, 14.6% of special needs students and 33.4% of Hispanic/Latino ethnicity out in the cold.Summit’s approach, with its mentorship, self-directed pacing, and project-based learning, has been life-changing for many of our students.

Although Summit says that all options have been exhausted, an ad-hoc team of parents has formed to fight for the school. Parents are unable to verify the financial deficit of millions of dollars, or the claim of LCFF and SB740 financial impact clearly. Even if the deficit is true, we further observed that a couple of Lines of Credit options were available for the entire Summit group from Umpqua Bank. We are requesting you to secure bridge funding for Denali to buy us time. If we can keep the school open, we will use the next several months to identify long-term funding strategies and grant opportunities that can be used to sustain Denali's operations for the foreseeable future.

Please give us:

1. Transparency and collaboration to understand Denali’s financial, enrollment, and entity structure

2. Corrective Action to resolve the gaps reported

3. Alternatives to closure, including home office support, access to a line of credit for a special endowment fundraised for Denali with parents and community support

Furthermore, the Summit Board of Directors Meeting is currently scheduled at 1-3pm on January 23, making it extremely difficult to attend for working parents. Given the huge community interest, we ask you to reschedule it for the after work hours (5pm and later), or schedule an additional meeting that working parents can attend. Teachers and Students who are other important stakeholders are unable to attend this important listening.

We are asking our fellow Summit Champions, you Summit Board, to join us Summit Denali parents in this and help us realize our mission Saving Summit Denali from closure.

Thanks

Denali Parents Organization

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Esto impacta a nuestra comunidad de Denali de 677 estudiantes de los cuales el 25.6% son desfavorecidos socioeconómicamente, el 14.6% de estudiantes con necesidades especiales y el 33.4% de etnia hispana/latina en el frío.

El enfoque de Summit, con su tutoría, ritmo autodirigido y aprendizaje basado en proyectos, ha cambiado la vida de muchos de nuestros estudiantes.

Por favor danos:

1. Transparencia y colaboración para comprender la estructura financiera, de inscripción y de entidad de Denali

2. Acción Correctiva para resolver las brechas reportadas

3. Alternativas al cierre, incluido el apoyo de la oficina en el hogar, acceso a una línea de crédito para un fondo de dotación especial recaudado para Denali con el apoyo de los padres y la comunidad

Además, la reunión de la Junta Directiva de Summit está programada actualmente para el 23 de enero de 1 a 3 p. m., lo que hace que sea extremadamente difícil asistir a los padres que trabajan. Dado el gran interés de la comunidad, le pedimos que lo reprograme para las horas posteriores al trabajo (5 p. m. y más tarde), o programe una reunión adicional a la que puedan asistir los padres que trabajan. Los maestros y estudiantes que son otras partes interesadas importantes no pueden asistir a esta importante audiencia. Es posible que los maestros y los estudiantes que son otras partes interesadas importantes no asistan a esta importante audiencia debido a la fecha..

Estamos pidiendo a nuestros compañeros campeones de Summit, ustedes, la Junta de Summit, que se unan a nosotros los padres de Summit Denali en esto y nos ayuden a cumplir nuestra misión de salvar a Summit Denali del cierre.

Gracias

Organización de padres de Denali