Petition aims to change nonprofit’s leadership
Old Town School had announced sale of building
A petition to “Save the Old Town School of Folk Music” after it was announced the institution is selling its building in Lincoln Park has now garnered more than 3,700 signatures and hundreds of comments supporting the effort.
On Monday, the Chicago institution announced that its longtime location at 909 W. Armitage Ave. would be sold to fund an endowment for the struggling nonprofit. As of Friday afternoon, a petition to change the nonprofit’s leadership and better explain the decision to sell the building was nearing 4,000 signatures.
“It’s obviously struck a chord with a lot of people,” said Rich Gordon, a longtime student of the school, who posted the petition online Tuesday afternoon.
“It’s really heartening,” Gordon said. “It just reinforces how many people love the Old Town School and want to make sure it survives and thrives.”
The sale will seed an endowment fund for general operations, with a short-term target of $10 million, according to Executive Director Bau Graves. And the Lincoln Square location of the school will remain open. But some students and faculty who are now fighting to save the Lincoln Park building — and ensure the future of the nonprofit — said they were blindsided by the decision.
In the petition, Gordon, who is married to Tribune Deputy Editorial Page Editor Marie Dillon, alleged mismanagement and called for a change in leadership.
On Tuesday, Graves acknowledged the news of the sale took people by surprise but said the board of directors had been considering the sale for several months. Graves wouldn’t comment on specific claims in the petition but told the Tribune, “Almost every paragraph in there has got inaccuracies or deliberate outright falsehoods, and I don’t want to dignify it with a response.”
Dave Zibell, a spokesman for the school, said in an email Friday that aside from the online campaign, the petition had not been submitted to Graves or board Chairman Kish Khemani.
“We are aware of its existence,” said Zibell about the petition. “We recognize that there is a passionate community and we will continue to listen and read comments as we work through developing a transition process together.”
Zibell addressed some of the claims in the petition and walked back some of Graves’ earlier comments, including that the nonprofit was struggling financially.
“Our organization is not struggling, yet,” Zibell said. “The board and leadership is focused on the continued financial health of OTSFM and agreed this is the time, with a strong real estate market and a new chapter of the school’s vision, to reach new audiences in many communities.”
Enrollment in educational programs and group classes was down from 2014 to 2017, while overall attendance was up, largely due to the Soundtrack of the City program, which brought in more than 28,000 attendees.
The organization took a loss in net assets between 2016 and 2017, dropping from $19,676,256 to $18,946,904, according to the organization’s 2017 financial report.
“We are not selling the Armitage location to balance the operating budget,” said Zibell when asked if the school could afford to operate the three buildings at current enrollment levels. “An endowment is important for any nonprofit’s long-term success.”
In an emailed letter sent Thursday evening to faculty and staff that was obtained by the Tribune, Graves and Khemani addressed some of the concerns that have been raised in the past few days, including an ongoing organizing effort from teachers and why the decision to sell the school is part of a longer-term plan for the school’s “financial stability and sustainability.”
“We have recently learned that a group of teachers are in discussions about possibly organizing,” the letter said. “We respect their right to do so and are open to talking about how we can collaboratively continue to strengthen the School.”
The school “currently has zero debt and this is the right time for this sale given favorable market conditions,” according to the letter, a version of which was later posted online. “That said, in an era of increased competition, changing audience needs and wants, and declines in class enrollment, we must reexamine parts of our operations to ensure a continued balanced budget as well as putting in place a road map for the future.”
The letter continued: “To further clarify, the sale of Armitage has been discussed many times over the years and is not being used to balance our annual budget nor as a response to unionization efforts.”
The school is committed to increasing communication and there will be a series of meetings the week of Nov. 5 for further discussion, according to the letter.
Gordon said the community is mobilizing and trying to figure out the next steps.
“There’s a much larger group of people than me.”