RE-2 District Board Faces Ultimatum Deadline
Trevor Phipps
Local political experts late last year predicted that the Woodland Park City Council versus RE-2 School Board battle had ended, following the November election.
Wrong pick. Sparks flew once again at a recent council meeting regarding how the school board was spending the 1.09 percent sales tax increase, approved by voters twice.
Several Woodland Park elected leaders are still saying that they are not receiving enough information from the school district, and they are quite livid about what they see as a lackadaisical attitude displayed by district officials . Despite a recent vote to keep the tax, the council has taken an official step to axe the tax themselves without another vote from the citizens.
But time is on the side of the RE-2 Woodland Park School District, but not for long.
The intergovernmental agreement (IGA) between the two entities had a provision that gives the district 30 days to cure any issues. As a result, a few key leaders have indicated they would rather have the school district correct the situation, and give the reports the council previously requested, instead of them taking action to axe the tax increase.
The issue took center stage at a recent council meeting. No public comment was allowed during the discussion. Over the last year, members of the council have claimed that the school board was not being transparent with how the money given to the school district was being spent.
After several discussions and joint meetings, the council re-wrote the IGA to require better reporting on exactly how the sales tax money was being spent. Later, some council members still thought that the question to repeal the sales tax given to the schools should be on the ballot.
But after a lengthy campaign launched by a group of citizens supporting the school district, the citizens voted “no” to repeal the tax.
But this fight has reignited, with the council starting the process to take matters into their own hands as they instructed the city attorney to draft an ordinance to get rid of the tax increase. This will be put on the council meeting agenda for Feb. 20. This could set the stage for a public hearing on March 6.
If the school district provides reporting that appeases the council, elected leaders could choose to cease their efforts to remove the tax, prior to the possible public hearing. But if council isn’t satisfied with the reports, council could call for a vote on March 6 regarding their proposed ordinance. This could led to a removal of the sales tax increase.
Fierce Remarks Voiced By WP Council Members
During the IGA discussion at their Feb. 6 meeting, most council members agreed that the reports given to the city by the district were not sufficient. Some of the council even went as far to say that they were “insulted” by a brief summary report the district gave them.
“At the age of 13 I was taught how to budget with line items, categories and then beneath those categories you have to break down those expenditures,” Councilman Steve “Smitty” Smith said. “Aaron (Vassalotti, Woodland Park City Manager) sat down with the proper personnel from the school district. To me, it is an insult because I feel that it was ignored. We are here for our community, and we are here for our kids. If this board, their superintendent and personnel are professing to do the same, then why are they not doing what is being asked?”
Councilwoman Carrol Harvey complimented the reporting received by Merit Academy, but she gave specific examples of how the reporting that came from the rest of the district was not sufficient. “I looked forward to this report, but it immediately jumped out at me that the district says they used the money to pay for salaries for Gateway Elementary teachers; Gateway Elementary doesn’t exist anymore,” Harvey said. “In May we were told that the money was going to be spent in this area, but now it is being spent over here. Oh, by the way we are paying teachers that don’t even exist anymore. So, something is wrong and it needs to be fixed.”
Councilman Jeffrey Geer said that after talking to people following the November election, he noted that a number of citizens who voted “no” on 2A, (a plan to repeal the sales tax), did so because of the new language in the IGA that required more detailed reporting and transparency. “I don’t know how much moreclear we can make it on exactly what we are looking for,” Geer said. “Aaron (Vassalotti) sat down with them and showed them exactly what we wanted to see and quite frankly what we got was a giant middle finger. One thing I have said from the start is that they have no intention of providing us the information we are looking for.”
Over the next couple of weeks, the school district plans to work on a more detailed report to give to the city council. But if the council isn’t satisfied, expect another council battle to occur on March 6 between the council and school district supporters.
