Judge reminds Woodland Park school board to comply with open meetings law, but 1 request denied - Colorado Springs Gazette

The school board in Woodland Park has been court-ordered to “comply with the Open Meetings Law by clearly, honestly and forthrightly listing all future agenda items,” especially any pertaining to a charter school application, according to a Teller County judge’s partial ruling on a lawsuit a parent submitted earlier this year.

Woodland Park School District RE-2's Board of Education also is prevented from “rubber stamping any board decision” that does not comply with notice requirements, 4th Judicial District Judge Scott Sells wrote in his findings filed Friday.

The decisions come pending a trial for a lawsuit that Erin O’Connell, a parent of three children in the district, has filed, seeking “full accountability” for what she claims are legal violations.

However, the judge denied a request from O’Connell for a preliminary injunction to stop two members from discussing board issues outside of a public meeting, saying he found “no violation of the law” on the part of board members.

That ruling wasn’t surprising, said Board President David Rusterholtz in an interview with The Gazette, since two members can discuss board business under the statute.

Four of the board’s five seats turned over in the November 2021 election, with winners running as a conservative slate and now constituting the majority vote. One member resigned last month over criticism of statements he made while at the city’s middle school.

O’Connell also claimed that a Jan. 26 special meeting agenda item listed as “board housekeeping” was inadequate in that it did not mention the discussion would include Merit Academy, a charter school that the previous school board had denied for authorization and the new board now is considering.

The remaining seated member of the previous board, Chris Austin, questioned that wording at the Jan. 26 board meeting.

The judge agreed, saying it was a “conscious decision to hide a controversial issue” about Merit Academy. He also ruled that the board “rubber stamped the decision at two subsequent board meetings, saying, “An ordinary member of the community could not have understood or known what ‘board housekeeping’ or re-approval of MOU with Merit Academy meant.”

And, “Defendants cannot demonstrate any legitimate reason for hiding their real agenda at board meetings,” Sells wrote.

Rusterholtz said he has done better in his role of creating the agendas since those earlier days after the election.

“I want to be transparent and follow the law in every way,” he said.

A statement the board issued regarding the judge's ruling states, “We recognize that public schools have become a place where competing world views are constantly in conflict.

“So, we will best serve our community by striving to provide specific public notice of our anticipated topics of discussion and by always offering genuine, public debate amongst ourselves prior to taking action.”

The board will continue to consider pursuing a memorandum of understanding with Merit Academy, Rusterholtz said, as the judge said it is not in his jurisdiction to rule on topic matters the board rules on.

Defendants argue in court paperwork that the lawsuit is less about the state’s open meetings rules and more about “policy differences about Merit becoming a potential charter within the district.”

O’Connell said she thinks the judge’s decision demonstrates that her lawsuit is valid and “not particularly about Merit Academy.”

“It is about the board following the law, their policies and being transparent,” she said. “Merit Academy is not what they’re doing wrong, it’s how they’re doing it that’s wrong.”

source: https://gazette.com/news/education/judge-reminds-woodland-park-school-board-to-comply-with-open-meetings-law-but-1-request/article_6f82c45c-ca48-11ec-afd0-efd9582f720d.html

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