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Adams County School District 14 recall, Colorado (2016)
| Adams County School District 14 Board of Education recall |
|---|
 |
| Officeholders |
Connie Quintana Timio Archuleta Harvest Thomas |
| Recall status |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2016 Recalls in Colorado Colorado recall laws School board recalls Recall reports |
An effort to recall all five members of the Adams County School District 14 Board of Education was started in June 2016, but was ultimately abandoned. David Rolla, Connie Quintana, Timio Archuleta, and Harvest Thomas were targeted for recall after the district's superintendent left for another school district and the deputy superintendent was removed from her position by the board. Former member Robert Vashaw was also targeted for recall, but he resigned from his position in September 2016, pending attempted sexual assault charges. The recall effort was launched months before the district was expected to be hit with state sanctions due to years of low test scores. It also came two years after the district reached an agreement with the Office of Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Education in order to improve the district's treatment of Latino students and staff. Some of the changes listed in the agreement had yet to be made as of July 2016.[1][2][3]
Members of a group called Voice 14, also called Voz Catorce in Spanish, began discussing a recall effort after the school board unanimously voted to remove interim superintendent Kandy Steel from her position at a school board meeting on June 20, 2016. In the same meeting, the board voted 3-2 to keep Walter Kramarz, the district's legal counsel, in his position. Voice 14 had started a petition in April 2016 calling for the board to fire Steel, Kramarz, and former superintendent Patrick Sanchez. They did not agree with the board's decision to keep Kramarz in his position.[1]
Steel served as the district's interim superintendent for one month before she was removed. She previously served as deputy superintendent of the school district. She became interim superintendent in May 2016 after Sanchez left the district to lead the Newark Unified School District in California.[1][4] The school board unanimously appointed Javier Abrego as the district's new leader in July 2016, and he took on the position of superintendent on August 1, 2016.[5]
Recall supporters
Before starting the recall effort, Voice 14 demanded greater transparency from the school board. In July 2016, Voice 14 had requested a community forum be held to discuss discrimination complaints and other education issues in the district. “I think that our community as a whole is ready to take a strong stand against what’s been going on for decades,” said Ricardo Rocha, a member of Voice 14.[6]
After the recall process was started, Rocha said, “We have started the process to recall all 5 members of the School Board and elect more conscious people. We need people that will take responsibility for their decisions before the community."[1]
Rocha did not agree with the board's decision to keep Kramarz in his position. “Kramarz is co-responsible of the failures in the District, together with Sánchez and Steel. He proposed for the District to spend 1.7 million in legal fees and abused his power by mistreating parents and students,” said Rocha.[1]
Voice 14 had been critical of former superintendent Patrick Sanchez before he left the district for Newark Unified. The group started a petition for his removal, as well as the removal of Steel, who served as his deputy superintendent, and Kramarz in April 2016. They also called for an investigation into "all financial, policy-based, and personnel decisions" during Sanchez's tenure.[4][7]
Recall opponents
“If it comes, let it be,” School Board President David Rolla said about the recall effort. “I’ll go by what the community wants. As far as me, I’m not going to worry about it.”[6]
Background
Board member arrested
Former board member Robert Vashaw was arrested on September 9, 2016, facing charges of criminal attempted sexual assault of a child and internet luring of a child. He was arrested during an internet investigation conducted by the Internet Crime Against Children Unit (ICAC) of the Aurora Police Department. During the investigation, Vashaw sent messages to a 13-year-old girl that contained "explicit sexual content," and he agreed to an encounter. No students from the Adams County School District 14 were involved, according to Crystal McCoy, a spokeswoman for the Aurora Police Department.[2][8]
Vashaw resigned from the board on September 13, 2016. He would have next been up for election in November 2017.[2] The school district released a statement saying officials would not comment on the matter and would "not speculate as to the facts of the situation.”[8]
The board appointed Joseph Dreiling as Vashaw's replacement on October 18, 2016.[9]
State sanctions
The Adams County School District 14 failed to meet a state deadline to improve test scores on state assessments. The district had been under a state accountability timeline since 2010 due to low test scores and graduation requirements, but because not enough improvements were made, the district was expected to face sanctions from the state starting in January 2017.[6]
Losing accreditation, closing the district's high school, or turning over schools to a charter network were some possible ways the sanctions could manifest. Before he left the district, former superintendent Patrick Sanchez set up a plan for all of the district's 10 schools to seek “innovation status.” If accepted by the state, the schools under innovation status could be freed from a number of district and state policies, including employing teachers outside of the union, using a different calendar and curriculum from the district, and being exempt from the state's teacher evaluation law. As of July 2016, however, it was unclear whether moving the schools to innovation status would be enough to save the district from state sanctions.[6]
Office of Civil Rights agreement
After a 2014 investigation by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights (OCR) revealed that the Adams County School District 14 had created a hostile environment for Latino students and staff, the district came up with a plan to improve the district's environment. Because the district had been charged with targeting Latino teachers with more scrutiny than their counterparts and not allowing students to speak Spanish in the hallways, former superintendent Patrick Sanchez agreed to make a number of changes, including conducting climate surveys on a regular basis and providing more training for teachers. Not all of the changes had been made before Sanchez's departure, and the OCR was still monitoring the district as of July 2016.[6]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in Colorado
The recall effort was started in June 2016.[1]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Adams County School District 14' recall. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Adams County School District 14, Colorado
- Recall campaigns in Colorado
- Political recall efforts, 2016
- School board recalls
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 El Comercio de Colorado, "Community will pursue full recall on all members of the Adams 14 School Board," June 23, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 El Comercio de Colorado, "Adams 14 Board Director charged with sexual assault on a minor," September 14, 2016
- ↑ Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Jami Gaultney, Adams County VSPC & Certification Manager," December 21, 2016
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Santa Cruz Sentinel, "Newark school board picks new superintdent," May 5, 2016
- ↑ Chalkbeat Colorado, "Commerce City school board chooses Arizona educator to lead struggling district," July 13, 2016
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Chalkbeat Colorado, "Who will land perhaps one of the toughest superintendent jobs in Colorado?" July 12, 2016
- ↑ change.org, "Petition for Removal of Superintendent Pat Sanchez, Deputy Kandy Steel, and Walter Kramarz," accessed September 22, 2016
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 The Denver Post, "Adams 14 school board member arrested on attempted child sex assault charge," September 12, 2016
- ↑ Chalkbeat Colorado, "New Adams 14 school board member pledges open communication, transparency," October 19, 2016
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