School will be cancelled at Lansing Christian School for the second day in a row on Tuesday after two principals were put on leave Monday afternoon.
The cancellation and the suspensions are in response to 10 teachers and staff being told their contracts would not be renewed for the following school year during the school day last Friday.
Now, staff is calling for the Head of School and Board of Trustees' immediate resignation, and parents want answers.
School was canceled Monday due to a staff walkout and will be canceled Tuesday, according to an email sent out by the Head of School, Jeremy Zajicek.
Staff allege that when asked why their contracts weren't renewed, Zajicek, told them only that Lansing Christian School is "an at-will employment school."
In a letter sent out to LCS families and alumni obtained by WKAR News, former teacher Heidi O'Neill, who taught at the school since 2013, said she was told she would not be offered a contract to teach the following year.
Her husband, music teacher Peter O'Neill who taught at the school since 2011, was told the same.
She said the meetings with Zajicek lasted "less than 3 minutes" and she had no disciplinary notes in her personnel file.
O'Neill also said that Zajicek confirmed he never approached the elementary principal about concerns regarding her conduct or job performance during the meeting.
"My heart is crushed and concerned for my own family, yes, but right now, I’m MOST devastated and upset by the division and destruction at our school," she writes.
She said tension between staff and board members has been building for years. She alleges that some of the current board members got their position "through leading campaigns that spread lies about other candidates."
O'Neill said Zajicek canceled events at the school, which upset students.
Parents of children who wish to remain anonymous allege that these canceled events and changes include removing the word "diversity" from the school's Mission Statement and canceling Black History Month and Hispanic Heritage Month events.
In an email from Zajicek to LCS families, obtained by WKAR News, he said the "Breaking Bread and Building Bridges" event would be canceled, and he created a framework that dictated the school should not conduct events celebrating only one culture.
O'Neill said she voiced concerns about changes with Zajicek directly, and attended multiple "Q & A sessions with the board."
"I prayed that the Board, and Dr. Zajicek would have their eyes and ears opened to the division they were sowing and the hurt they were causing to our students, our community, and to the witness of Lansing Christian school to our broader community," she said.
She said many teachers were afraid to speak out in fear of losing their jobs.
After teachers were told they would not be returning next year, the news quickly spread among students.
Zajicek sent an email to parents calling this unprofessional.
"Students were drawn into adult matters, and the normal order of the school day was disrupted," he said.
O'Neill said students sensed that something was wrong.
"It is a lot to ask an entire teaching staff to express no emotions and pretend like life is normal when they find out 10 of their co-workers have been let go for next school year in the middle of the day, and they are not sure if they or someone else would be next or how many more meetings were going to happen that day," she writes.
RJ Hatt, an alumnus of the school, said it would be difficult to keep the information concealed because many teachers whose contracts were terminated have children at the school.
“I did email the enrollment office, and I just made it very clear that if the situation in the school doesn't change, it's not a place I would feel comfortable sending my child even though I'm an alumni," he said.
A letter sent to the school's Board of Trustees by staff calls for the Board and Zajicek's resignation by Tuesday afternoon, and 86% of staff support a vote of no confidence.
The Lansing Christian School declined to comment.