More than 1,000 people have signed an online petition urging the Board of Trustees of the Sandy Spring Friends School to reconsider its decision to permanently close the private Quaker school in May due to what the board said was an “untenable financial position.”
“It is inconceivable to us that the school has reached this point without transparent communication regarding the severity of the situation,” said the change.org petition started by Susan Donnelly, a parent at the Sandy Spring school. “The abrupt announcement has left the community reeling, and many of us feel blindsided.”
The school announced Monday it will be closing at the end of 2024-2025 school year. The announcement comes about two weeks before Sandy Spring Friends was scheduled to hold a spring admissions event on April 29. The school at 16923 Norwood Road did not immediately respond Wednesday to Bethesda Today’s phone call seeking comment on the closure.
According to the Monday announcement, the school would need $14 million to $16 million in revenue over the next three years “in order to remain open in the long-term” while covering the cost of operating losses, debts, repayment of a loan and needed major maintenance projects.
Craig Parker, the parent of an eighth grader who was planning to attend Sandy Spring Friends’ high school, told Bethesda Today on Wednesday he was “shocked” and “furious” over the school closure and his daughter is “devastated.”
“I get a lot of information from that school, and I was completely unaware of the dire financial situation,” Parker said. “I was very surprised by … how much financial trouble they’re in with no prior notice to the community.”
The school, which operates under the “spiritual support” of the Sandy Spring Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, also known as Quakers, opened in September 1961 with an upper school program for 77 students, according to the school’s website. A middle school program was added in 1980, followed by an elementary school in the early 1990s.
The most recent developments were the completion of a new upper school building in 2021 and, in February, the school announced the hiring of new leadership for the entire school, including the lower school and middle schools.
The school serves 615 students in pre-kindergarten through grade 12 on a campus of more than 140 acres that include an educational farm, cross-country trails and a swimming pond, according to its website.
Annual tuition for the 2025-2026 school year ranged from $26,900 for preschool to $45,350 for high school. Thirty-three percent of students receive financial aid, according to the website.
The petition
The petition, created Monday by Donnelly, has 1,315 signatures as of Wednesday afternoon. Donnelly, who noted the petition wasn’t a call for donations to the school, didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday.
Donnelly said in the petition the community was concerned about the impact the closure would have on students, especially high school juniors “who are now facing their senior year without the school they’ve called home.”
Members of the community are also concerned about the school staff who are now facing unemployment, the petition said, adding that the “abrupt dismissal” was “unjust and heartbreaking.”
Many comments on the petition called for transparency, including one commenter who said making the decision to close the school without first consulting the community was “irresponsible.”
Parker echoed the calls for transparency.
“I would love to take a look at this budget that is supposedly unfixable … . For them to just announce that ‘we’re shutting down,’ it doesn’t make any sense to me,” Parker said. “It’s still very frustrating that they’re [closing] without explaining it to people.”
The petition implored the board and school leadership to consider what would be needed to keep the school open for one additional year. Doing so, the petition said, would provide students, family and staff with the time to make “thoughtful transitions” and process the change.
“We also ask that the school uphold the Quaker values it was founded on — community, integrity, equality, stewardship, and peace — by engaging with us in open dialogue,” The petition said. “The [Sandy Springs Friends School] community was not given the opportunity to come together and problem-solve, to collaborate, or to explore solutions. We believe that, together, we may find a path forward.”
