Finally...our letter to Chameleons Montessori is acknowledged and further developments

Apparently they're very busy at the Chameleons Montessori school as it's taken a month to acknowledge the letter I handed to the principal, Emma Medell on the 4th May.

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised really though. From what I've heard, about half (17 or 18) of the pupils presently enrolled in the primary school will not be returning next term. It appears that fears surrounding the exposure of children to agricultural chemical sprays is causing some parents to reconsider the wisdom of leaving their children on a working farm all day.

The ever resourceful management ( I'm still not all that sure who really pulls the strings there) has come up with a clever plan, though, to fill the empty places. According to one of the teachers who's been charged with dealing with the actual day to day teaching, they're simply going to bring in some of the little ones from the pre-primary school. There may be some small comfort for those new children's parents in this move as we now know the pre-primary school is in fact even more exposed to spray drift than the primary school.

My concern is that the vacant places in the pre-primary school will now be filled with fresh pupils who's parents will be completely unaware of the situation that has lead to so many of us removing our children from harms way. I wonder if, in the interest of allowing parents of prospective pupils at the school to make a fully informed decision, the details of the present crisis will be made clear to them before they sign the contract and pay their deposits.

If you read our letter explaining why we removed our son from the school you'll note we specifically asked to see some evidence of these various "investigations" into the safety issue surrounding the spraying.
"a request for details of the investigation the school instigated in early 2009."
Our full letter can be read by double clicking here.

I repeated my request on the 5th may by email.
I posted a copy of the mail here.

As usual this request to see some hard evidence of what the school has been claiming it has done is simply ignored. Surely, as parents of a child in their care we have some right to demand to see some proof of their claims?

I've also recently been in touch with the family Emma mentioned in her "timeline" of events leading up to the present situation. We learned that a family, early in 2009 and after their daughter had only been at the school for 3 weeks, removed her due to concerns over the spraying. From the conversation I had with them and referencing correspondence between this family and the school it is hard to understand how it is that the matter was not considered important enough to explore more thoroughly at the time (March 2009). I will need to clarify a few details but will soon post a summary of those events.

I also need to clarify another little bit of misinformation being peddled by the school. It has been repeatedly stated that Albe Albertyn ( the teacher who had to leave due to illness possibly caused by the spraying) had developed bronchitis. In fact an oblique reference is made to bronchitis by Dave D'Aguiar when he asked Prof. London whether the chemicals used at Nitida could cause bronchitis. Prof. London replies that they would not. This was at the talk given at the school by Prof. London on the 27 May 2010.

I now have a copy of Albe's medical records and while the initial diagnosis by her GP suggests bronchitis the later investigation, which was quite extensive, confirms an inflamation in the lower lungs. Tests suggested this was caused by an external irritant and had to be brought under control by means of steroids to suppress the inflammation. Pesticides are implicated in the medical report by the physician. The school was given a copy of exactly the same report yet they continue to misrepresent Albe's health condition.

I believe a few parents have now received similar emails to the one posted below. I publish ours merely to illustrate how, yet again, the specific concerns regarding the spraying and requests for proof that they've done what they say they have in terms of investigating the matter are completely ignored.

This isn't going to go away....we want answers.

"

Dear Ford & Jo

Your letter dated 4 May 2010 refers.

We sympathise with the difficult decision you have had to make and acknowledge each parent’s right to do what they feel is best for their child/ren. However we cannot agree with your statement that we have failed to meet our obligation to provide Joel with tuition and indeed deny that that is so. We have at all times been willing and able to teach Joel and would have done so but for the fact that he has not been attending school.

We wish, however, to draw your attention to the school’s enrolment termination policy which states that a full term’s notice (or three full months in lieu thereof) of termination of enrolment is required by the school. Given your letter provided at the beginning of May 2010, fees are still due and payable up until the end of July 2010 as per the terms and conditions you agreed to contractually upon your child’s enrolment at the school. These terms were also agreed to again during the 2010 Re-enrolment that occurred in September last year. Accordingly, your online school account now reflects the full final outstanding balance due.

You will no doubt appreciate that the obligatory notice period is intended both to provide continuity and to protect the ongoing financial viability of the school, as the loss of any pupil has a direct financial impact on the remaining parents. We are thus not in a position to waive the fees which are payable during the notice period.

We are unsure at this time if your letter dated 4th May 2010 is indeed a letter of termination of Joel’s enrolment. Please be advised that school fees continue to be billed to your account and will continue to do so until clarification is received in this regard and your notice period will not commence until such time as we receive this confirmation in writing . The school will continue to make tuition available to Joel on the same basis as before pending your confirmation. Should it have been your intention for your letter to be received as notice of termination of enrolment, we will amend your account to include May as your first month of your notice period accordingly. Please advise by close of business on Tuesday 8 June 2010 so we can make the necessary adjustments if this was your intention.

We thank you in anticipation of your understanding and wish you everything of the best.

Yours faithfully

For and on behalf of

Chameleons Montessori Business Steering Committee