Letter Of The Board Of Directors Of Taylor International...

Please accept this letter as my response to your letter of September 23, 2015 as well as my formal demand to retract the defamatory statements that were made in your letter. The Board of Directors of Taylor International Academy (hereinafter the â€Å"Academy†) established a reauthorization committee prior to the expiration of our charter agreement with Central Michigan University. Tom West and I served on the committee, and after Tom West’s resignation, Dr. Renita Clark served on the committee with me. On or about October 28, 2014, Barbara Zeile of Central Michigan University sent the Academy a letter indicating that â€Å"Academy’s academic performance over the course of the initial five-year Contract has remained persistently and unacceptably†¦show more content†¦We obtained a list of law firms that represented other charter schools that were authorized by Central Michigan University. You were provided a copy of the same on December 23, 2014. After reviewing the list, and performing my own research, I provided my opinion as to the most qualified firms to interview. The Academy’s Board of Directors interviewed three (3) laws firms at a work/study session and you participated in this process. At an open board meeting, Dr. Renita Clark, Ellen Stephens and I voted to hire Lusk Albertson, PLC. Everyone was provided an opportunity to voice their opinion at the open board meeting at which Lusk Albertson, PLC was hired. While I may be a lawyer, my area of expertise is not education law, and I resent any implication that that the services of Lusk Alberton, PLC were somehow unnecessary. In your letter, you falsely state that â€Å"Later through other professional associations that I have discovered that Mr. Hirzel had a prior relationship with this law firm leading me to have even greater concerns. Is this not Board policy to avoid (sic) conflict of interest situation involving the Board and any contracted service.† Please be advised that I have never had any type of relationship, personal or professional, with Lusk Albertson, PLC prior to voting to hire them