Dear Croft JP Community:
It has been a while since we reached out to the whole community. However, in light of last Friday’s news, we wanted to update the community about Friends of JP Education’s (“FOJPE”) finances and how they impact the school’s operations through June 12.
In short, despite some surprises, we continue to believe we have the funds necessary to keep the school open through June 12.
We have been working to be good stewards of the money this community donated to keep Croft-JP open through June 12. In the end, we collected almost every pledge and received a tremendous $1,116,890. Each week, two of our members, Tim Cummings and Aaron Stelson, have been working hand-in-hand with Shilpa, Kate Mahoney, and Oxford’s administrators to understand and approve the payment of expenses. They scrutinize every penny going out the door, and the entire FOJPE board and advisers meet weekly to discuss and approve expenditures.
During the past several weeks, we have been tightly managing cash to make sure we have enough funds to keep the school operational through June 12. Several events have occurred that fundamentally changed our own estimates about the budget, but we believe we have managed through them and have enough money to keep the school operational through June 12. However, we wanted to bring these circumstances to the attention of the community.
When the community raised funds in March, we did so based on the information provided to us by Oxford’s Board of Managers and counsel, which included a commitment by Oxford to use the remaining funds in Oxford’s Leader Bank account to make payroll for one of the six remaining payroll cycles. During our fundraising, we were initially told by Oxford they would pay the first payroll needed on March 31. However, Oxford quickly pivoted on this approach and informed us they would pay the last payroll in June. They told us this change was necessary because Oxford, as an employer, was required to keep one full payroll in their bank account to “verify” their ability to meet payroll expectations.
We later learned that these representations by Oxford were untrue. There was no formal verification process that required Oxford to keep the funds in their bank account. Instead, Oxford used money in the Leader Bank account to pay other expenses. We have repeatedly asked for detailed information about what expenses have been paid. To date, we have not been given precise information, but we do not believe there are currently enough funds in the Leader Bank account to cover a final payroll. We do understand from the Oxford Board that while some funds have been spent on expected operational charges, at least some funds have also been used to pay Oxford’s restructuring team expenses. We continue to seek detailed information, but have yet to be provided further details despite repeated requests.
Oxford’s misrepresentations around these payroll issues feel like yet another act of betrayal and deception and, needless to say, they have made our jobs a lot more challenging. We continue to hope the Oxford Board will step up and do right by the Croft-JP community, but we have little faith at this point and are managing expenses without expecting more from the Oxford Board.
Since learning about this need to cover an additional payroll, we have been laser focused on ensuring that we could still keep the school open through June 12. At first, we understood that funds necessary to cover the payroll Oxford was to pay could come from a buyer (such as Dukes), and we worked with the Long Term Planning team to support those bids in a positive direction. We now know that is no longer a possibility.
Given this evolving situation, we have had to make strategic decisions about what expenses we do and do not pay, with the advice of our counsel and accountants. Right now, FOJPE has $592,570 remaining in its bank account. We are carefully analyzing every expense and paying expenses only if they are necessary to get the school through to June 12, with payroll for teachers and staff remaining our highest priority. We continue to post the minutes of our meetings and other information on our website, www.friendsofjpeducation.org, including a general ledger of expenses paid by FOJPE to date.
We will continue to keep the community updated about these issues. We also plan to update the community separately within the next week on:
- Incidental expenses; and
- Whether and how FOJPE may be able to support the efforts of other members of this community to raise money to support staff through the summer months.
However, to reiterate again, we believe with our current plan and no additional unforeseen circumstances, we will be able to keep the school operating through June 12.
Thank you again to this tremendous community. The news of Croft’s closure next year is devastating, particularly because we have witnessed first hand the exceptional power of this group of students, teachers, staff, and caregivers. Croft is a special place. FOJPE will continue to do all we can to ensure that Croft-JP has the time and space to end this year together – in community – to celebrate what we have had, mourn what we have lost, and support each other as we all find the next learning and teaching communities for ourselves, our children, and the staff.
-Friends of JP Education