State Board Of Ed Allows Adams 14 District To Retain Some Control

Adams County, CO – By Yesenia Robles, Chalkbeat Colorado. In its much-anticipated decision on the troubled Adams 14 school district, Colorado’s State Board of Education on Tuesday stopped short of handing over all power to an outside manager.

The external manager — yet to be chosen — will oversee district operations for at least four years and be able to place, transfer and evaluate teachers. But in hiring and firing employees, the locally elected school board will retain the ultimate authority.

That means the external manager hired to run Adams 14 will have less power than what some outside observers expected. But the outcome was was just what district officials thought would happen.

“We’re very pleased,” said Superintendent Javier Abrego. “The local board is still on top.”

After spending an hour in closed session hearing a legal opinion about its final order, the state board emerged into a public meeting and without discussion approved the order directing Adams 14 to hand over district management to an outside group. The state stepped in because the Commerce City-based district of about 7,500 students has had low performance ratings for more than eight years and has been unable to improve on its own.

At a hearing two weeks ago, the district had proposed a similar improvement plan in which they would hire an outside manager that would report to their local school board, and give direction to the superintendent. But during that hearing, State Board members were unconvinced that the district was willing to give up a significant amount of authority to that outside manager, so they sought a legal opinion.

State attorneys drafted an order allowing the State Board to specify in detail the powers of the external manager, which are similar to the powers of a superintendent. The order gives state officials oversight, requiring State Board approval of an external manager chosen by Adams 14, allowing the state to review the manager’s contract and allowing unscheduled visits to the district by state officials.

But when it comes to hiring and firing employees, even top administrators like the superintendent, the Adams 14 school board maintains ultimate authority.

READ MORE at The Colorado Independent

Image: "The To Do List" by ninniane, Creative Commons via Flickr