Legal Committee Update
This is not legal advice, and the Croft JP Parents with legal backgrounds are not providing legal representation. Nothing in this communication is confidential or subject to attorney-client privilege or work product protection. To the extent you need legal advice, you should retain your own counsel.
The PAC’s legal committee has been working to put in place a structure that would allow our community to collectively support the continued operation of the Croft School at its Jamaica Plain location. Here’s where things stand.
What We’re Building:
We today formed a new nonprofit entity called Friends of JP Education, Inc. We have engaged Bowditch & Dewey LLP, a well-regarded Massachusetts law firm, to handle certain legal work associated with our plans, and Verdolino & Lowey, P.C., an accounting firm, to manage the financial infrastructure.
How It Would Work:
The structure, in plain terms:
- Parents and community members who wish to contribute would do so through a formal, governed process — not simply writing a check into a void.
- Contributions would be held in escrow by the accountants, through their existing client funds account structure established and overseen by Verdolino & Lowey.
- A governance document will direct how those funds can be used — specifically, for the school’s ongoing operational needs: payroll, rent, and vendor payments.
- If the structure cannot be carried out as planned, contributions would be returned on a pro rata basis.
- We have backup structures in mind, but are focused on this path right now.
Before this structure can be finalized and made available to the broader community, there are some legal costs we need to cover — primarily to obtain a legal letter that will be provided to all contributors. That letter will explain:
- The full structure of the arrangement
- The risks involved in participating
- All of the steps we have taken to mitigate those risks
In addition, there will be some modest administrative fees for the accounting firm to perform its functions, like bookkeeping.
Some members of the PAC have agreed to cover these initial fees out of their contributions or otherwise, which would be non-refundable if we are ultimately unable to implement the structure as designed.
Where Things Stand:
We are moving as quickly as we can. The legal and accounting teams have been engaged, the entity has been formed, the governance framework is being drafted, and we expect to have more concrete details — including contribution mechanics and the risk disclosure letter — to share with the community soon.