March 13--March 20, 1997 E-mail correspondence between Parents and Kiwanis Int'l


E-Mail

Date: March 13, 1997
From: Chris Rice, Director of Programs
Kiwanis International
TO: Monroe Gilmour
Concerned Parents

"Dear Mr. Gilmour:

I am sorry, but I do not have time to delineate and respond to all the issues you raised in your Feb. 277 letter or in theMarch 3 letter from Betty Bates. I am frustrated by my lack of time, but, as I explained to you in our phone conversations, this will continue to be a limiting factor in our progress on Terrific Kids. We will make progress.

Unfortunately, just as you feel the article in the ProjectIdeas newsletter was inadequate, you may feel that our rate ofprogress is inadequate. When we make progress, I will be happyto share our conclusions and drafts of materials with you.

Please understand that I want to be as cooperative as I can,but I cannot spend large amounts of time drafting responses toyour letters, reporting on meetings or other research, orexplaining the process I am required to go through in preparingmaterials for the Board Committee on Education and ProgramDevelopment. I am trying to arrange to move this project off mydesk and onto the desk of one of my co-workers so that progresscan be more rapid. I sincerely want to resolve this.

At some point, perhaps we can review the other points youmake or imply in your letter, but I cannot do so soon. I assureyou that I will share any notable progress with you.

cc: A Shafer (Int'l ); T. Dimmock (Carolinas Kiwanis Gov.) W. Wirth (Carolinas Kiwanis Sec.); A.G. Shaffer (Int'l Sec.)


E-Mail

Date: March 18, 1997
TO: Mr. Chris Rice, Kiwanis Int'l, Director of Programs
From: Monroe Gilmour, Concerned Parents

Dear Mr. Rice,

Thank you for your note. I hope you can understand that when we share your letter with other parents here, they feelchagrined. It appears to all of us that you could have answered the four simple questions we asked in less space than what youwrote explaining why you couldn't. Moreover, does not Kiwanishave an already-printed list of who makes up the Priority One Advisory Council which you could fax to us? We regret yourdifficulties in managing your time and feel that the manychildren being hurt by the Terrific Kids program deserve better.After over two years of trying to give Kiwanis the opportunity to fix the problems, we conclude that it is time for us to make an effort to alert schools to the problems and to alert them of Kiwanis International's lack of will to evaluate the program properly or to adequately notify schools about the problems in a timely manner.

Our offer to speak with the Priority One Advisory Council members still holds and we hope you will re-evaluate your priorities and move Terrific Kids to the top.


E-Mail

Date:March 20, 1997
To: Monroe Gilmour, Concerned Parents
From: Chris Rice, Dir. of Programs, Kiwanis International

"I cannot answer any of your questions quickly because each implies so much. For me to answer any of your questions quickly and without review will imply agreement to ancillary points you make or imply. I am trying to do the right thing without getting myself or Kiwanis International into trouble. There is no reason to direct you to people I consult on this matter from the Advisory Council. It would be an imposition to involve them in our on-going discussions. I am sorry I cannot spend enough time on this matter to satisfy your group. As I indicated before I will communicate with you when I have made significant progress.

Sincerely, Chris Rice


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