If you follow Denver Public Schools news and have somehow missed the jaw-dropping story by Nico Brambiia in the Denver Gazette last weekend, or Monday’s Boardhawk podcast interview with the reporter, run, don’t walk, to catch up.
The story focuses on a hitherto unknown, secret, two-school-board-member committee formed last spring to work on an extended and revised contract for DPS Superintendent Alex Marrero.
“In extending Marrero’s contract, the board sidestepped open debate in favor of private channels that shielded Marrero — and the district’s elected leaders — from public scrutiny,” Brambila wrote.
It’s the latest example of an out-of-control board majority, consisting in part of veteran directors who should know better, going to great lengths to hide their deliberative processes from the public. At a minimum, committee members Michelle Quattlebaum (up for reelection) and Marlene de la Rosa, and board President Carrie Olson owe the public an explanation.
An abject apology would be more in keeping with the transgression. I suspect that deep down, they must realize that this is rotten business, best rammed or snuck through rather than openly and honestly debated.
There’s a chance, though, that this could blow up in their faces. Brambila said during the podcast that open meetings lawyers told her that should someone file suit against the district and prevail, Marrero’s new contract could be ruled null and void.
As well it should be. The contract not only extended Marrero’s contract by two years (through June 2028), it also changed the vote required to remove the superintendent form a simple four-person majority to a five-member super-majority.
What galled many people, including, apparently the two board members (John Youngquist and Kimberlee Sia) who voted against it, was the fact that Marrero’s hasn’t undergone a rigorous performance evaluation during his four years in Denver. The first evaluation using new, slightly more stringent criteria, is due this fall.
According to lawyers interviewed by Brambila, the board might well have violated Colorado’s open meetings law by having one-on-one discussions and then funneling work on the contract through the district’s General Counsel, Aaron Thompson. These two dark-arts tricks are known as a daisy chain and a hub-and-spoke.
“A “daisy chain” happens when public officials deliberately sidestep open meeting laws by discussing public matters one-on-one or in small groups. The goal is to circumvent the threshold for a quorum — the minimum number of members required for a public body, like a school board, to legally conduct business,” Brambila wrote.
The hub-and-spoke trick allegedly consisted, in this case, of board members passing proposed contract language through Thompson instead of debating it in public.
It was just a couple of years ago that the board was caught red-handed holding an illegal executive session after the East High School shootings, and forced by a Denver District Court judge to hand over a video recording of that meeting. Apparently, the board members in office at the time, including two of the three main transgressors in this case, learned nothing from that experience.
As a nonprofit news and commentary organization, Boardhawk can’t endorse candidates or urge people to vote one way or another. But we are allowed to educate on issues. So remember this: Of the five board members who voted for the contract extension under extremely shady circumstances, three are up for reelection.
Ballots get mailed to voters October 10. Election day is November 4.
