Parent Letters to Leadership
To include your letter of concern in this growing collection, please send a PDF to:
Scott & Sandy Kuepfer: 5.30.26 Intent to Withdraw
“Leadership is known by its fruits, and in our opinion, the fruits exhibited by current leadership have led to: fear, anxiety, disunity, broken relationships, lack of compassion, rigidity, indifference toward those leaving, favoritism, and severe damage to our witness for Christ in our community. In our experience, the teachers and families who left never disagreed with or worked against LCS's mission statement or doctrinal statement. To suggest or infer otherwise is dishonest. The things administration says LCS will be are the things LCS already was - for decades - and which leadership has torn down in a matter of months.”
Nikki Gruesbeck: 5.21.26
“One example that has been particularly troubling was the recent communication expressing excitement about the large number of people interviewing to join LCS. Current teachers had only finalized decisions and submitted contracts days earlier. Many positions had not even been publicly posted yet, and yet interviews were apparently already well underway. Naturally, this raises difficult and uncomfortable questions. Who are these candidates? How were they informed of openings that technically did not yet exist publicly? How long has this transition actually been in motion behind the scenes while families and teachers were still being reassured?”
Ardis Family: 5.16.26 Letter to Chad Myers
“You cannot guard against worldliness by behaving like the world, which is what has characterized your tenure as President of the Board of Trustees. Even if we wanted to return to LCS, what is there to return to? You tried to strong-arm eighty six percent of the staff entrusted to your care into silence and compliance, dismissing some very pressing concerns simply because you could, or so your sense of authority told you. And now they are gone.”
Jess Okkerse: 5.14.26 Resignation and Unenrollment
“Under the current leadership, this school has become an environment in which students and staff alike are experiencing complex trauma. The conditions being created and sustained here are not consistent with a healthy, safe, developmentally appropriate, or Christ-like educational setting”
Wright Family: 5.12.26 Questions for Board and HOS
“What is your plan if the teachers at the high school level cannot be replaced before the fall and proper candidates cannot be found?We are concerned that this restructuring internally could have a serious impact and disruption of our daughter's future for college and the requirements she needs. If enough high school teachers do not renew contracts and not enough can be properly hired over the summer to keep and meet the rigor of the high school classes then what? When would that be communicated to us?”
Paul and Rachelle Crawford Family: Enrollment Decisions
“We do not believe environments marked by fear, isolation, or the silencing of concerns are healthy or safe for children. Nor is it an environment that fosters emotional security, healthy development, or a productive atmosphere for learning.”
“We want to share with you who we are voting for in the Board of Trustees election, how we think this election will affect the trajectory of LCS for years to come, and why we think these are the right leaders to guide LCS through this difficult moment in its history.”
4.26.26: Jeff Ackerman, Ph.D.
“The Board’s attorney-drafted response letter took a combative stance against members of the Association it purports to represent. This makes it appear to me that Board members are more interested in their own entrenchment than in representing Association members.
Board communications have praised the Head of School to a level bordering on sycophancy while sharply criticizing teachers and parents who are members of the Association that the Board purports to represent.”
4.26.26 Letter:“The new operating plan shared last week emphasizes enrollment growth, public image, and academics. But none of this is possible without our current teaching staff.
LCS has long been known for strong academics and a thriving community. Why move toward a direction that largely reflects what already exists while risking the loss of the teachers—and families—who make it possible?”
“It’s hard to believe you’re fighting for the parents and partnering with churches when there is such a rapid organizational shift. In many cases, these teachers, the boots on the ground, embody the DNA, more than any board. Did these teachers truly threaten the values of LCS, when they themselves forged it through their years, sometimes decades of loving presence?”
“The Head of School’s letter to “make LCS known throughout the Midwest as the finest PreK- 12 school for Christian centered liberal arts education” is out the window. “A waiting list for student admissions” How about keeping the families you have instead of driving them away?”
Meyer Family: 2.6.26
Cory Smidt
“Our family has been going through a grieving process. I’ve heard the same thing from most of the people experiencing this with us. We’ve decided, (barring a miracle) our daughter will not be returning to LCS next fall. This has been an emotional but not difficult decision.”