June 26, 2001

Announcement regarding Rachel Stone

Hi Rachel Stone Supporters-

Yesterday a group of Dr. Rachel Stone supporters went to Sacramento and had a rally in front of Delaine Eastin's office. For those of you who don't know who Delaine Eastin is, She is the Superintendent of Public Instruction. She oversees all the schools in the entire state of California and she is the one who approved the termination of Dr. Stone.

There were a lot of Riverside supporters in Sacramento. Community members, parents, students and staff were present. We also had some supporters from the bay area and the Sacramento area. We want to thank each and every one of you for your tireless dedication and support in our belief that Dr. Stone was wrongfully terminated. We also want to thank you for your support behind the idea of a reinstatement of Dr. Stone.

During the rally at Sacramento, we were able to give out flyers and messages to local politicians, public law makers and ordinary citizens of the Sacramento area. We do believe since Delaine Eastin's office is in the heart of the Capital Mall, our message was heard by the Sacramento people. We continued to pass out flyers and rally until Delaine Eastin was ready to see six representatives in her office at 12:30 for an appointment to address the concerns. We had a fair representation of two parents, two students and two staff members. Zibby Bayarsky, Pam Hakker, Tommy Korn, Erik Shevlin, Mark Dorsey and John Hencker were the representatives to go into the meeting. We had 50 minutes of private time to discuss our concerns with Delaine Eastin and Ron Kadish with some other staff members from Delaine's office.

Delaine was very willing to meet with us and hear us out. We want to sincerely thank her for her wiliness to fit us into her tight schedule and allow us to voice our concerns around the current environment at CSDR and the termination of Dr. Stone.

We discussed our grave concern for the declining educational expectations at our school. This was a serious concern among everyone in the room and everyone agreed in the room that educational standards at CSDR must be raised. Some of the paperwork and textbooks were shown to Delaine Eastin, these materials sent a loud message to her and her staff about the kind of educational materials that were being used at CSDR. Delaine was in full agreement with all of us that the educational expectations and curriculum needs to be improved.

Secondly, we discussed our desire to have Dr. Stone reinstated as Site Superintendent of CSDR and wanting to know specific reasons to why such a highly qualified person like Dr. Stone would have been terminated. Delaine indicated that California Laws prevented her from disclosing to us their reasons for terminating Dr. Stone and her privacy is being protected in that way. She fully understands that Dr. Stone has tremendous support at CSDR, the community and the entire nation. Delaine also mentioned that she did not foresee that there would be any possibility in a reinstatement. She indicated that Dr. Stone's visions and ideas for CSDR will continue to be carried through by the next person in charge of the school. This news of course was very troubling and disturbing to many of us Rachel Stone supporters. HOWEVER, this does not mean that the door has completely been shut. There are many parents, community members and staff who are not ready to give up the fight just yet. There are plans to continue the rallying, involving the media to a very heavy extent and contact politicians above Delaine Eastin for assistance. So, you supporters can be assured that there are people who believe that Rachel Stone is the right person to do the job at CSDR and raise the educational standards at CSDR. Therefore we, supporters request you all to remain united in your fight to seek a reinstatement of Dr. Stone. Remember Winston Churchill said "Never, Never, Never, Never, Give Up"

Thirdly, we were able to convey the message of concern that there is a huge problem with other people currently at CSDR in other administrative positions that have ultimately lead to the low expectations and quality of education. In addition to this, some of these people believed that these administrators were a contributing factor in the eventual downfall of Dr. Stone's position as site superintendent. Delaine Eastin assured everyone that she would be willing to make sure that this issue would be addressed. Lastly, we are very appreciative for each and every one of you who have lost a lot of sleep and kept up a lot of energy during this turbulent week. We realize that we are all united in the quest for a better CSDR and better education for our children. Please remain united and remember "Never, Never, Never, Never-Give Up."

The fight for reinstatement continues! We have a new web site that has all the information you will need. http://buellworks.com/deafriverside/ This web site has a bulletin board that will allow you to speak out and express how you feel about Dr. Stone's reinstatement as Site Superintendent of CSDR. You can also show your support by signing the petition.

Thank you all for your dedication and continued support.