Alan Gottlieb

As we enter a new moment in Denver Public Schools governance, I intend to remain hopeful that the bumpy days of the past several years could be behind us. I will observe the new board carefully (the name Boardhawk remains relevant), and with respect and goodwill.

Yet I’d be foolishly naïve if I were pretend that the ghosts of the recent past don’t threaten to haunt the board and its three new members. There has been a lot of acrimony, pettiness, and ideologically rooted foolishness that has hampered the board and district’s progress in recent years.

Here, then are a few hopes and worries I carry in my mind as the new DPS board settles in.

This is a perfect example of what is known as a star chamber investigation. A star chamber investigation” refers to an inquiry or legal proceeding that is seen as arbitrary, secretive, and grossly unfair—often conducted without transparency, due process, or the right for those accused to defend themselves. The term is used pejoratively to criticize procedures that lack openness and seem designed to persecute rather than fairly adjudicate.

The Denver school board “blatantly violated” the Colorado Open Meetings law on Dec. 12 by not specifically publishing in its official meeting notice that the executive session discussion focused on board member John Youngquist’s request for reimbursement for penalties levied against him by the state pension fund, Colorado’s top media lawyer Steve Zansberg said Sunday. The notice language was far more general, depriving the public of information it was entitled to know, Zansberg said.