001with you prep you prep made an agreement with MGT in a private meeting to pull back on its public promises and to adjust the timeline by a year MGT had no authority to override this board's approval of uprep's Charter application the Adams 14 board had no knowledge of this agreement nor did it approve of any such agreement then in June of 2022 you prepped further attempted to pull back on its public promise to offer Pre-K three and four classes in its first year of opening obviously while this was a key public promise you prep made to the community you prep attempted to pull back on this promise in private when Adam's 14 staff objected to this proposal a uprep administrator threatened Adams 14 to contact State Board member Steve Durham to involve him in the
002contract negotiations to be clear the State Board of Education has no authority to interfere with contract negotiations between a local school district and a charter school applicant also as this community is where Mr Durham has terrorized our Adams 14 Community with his public bias and racist Behavior against our district in fact in Adams 14 board member has filed the discrimination and racism complaint against the State Board member of Education because of Mr Durham's conduct in addition we live in this community with you we've experienced firsthand at least one up board member attempting to bus students out of our district so for uprep to threaten Adams 14 with Mr Durham's interference in contract negotiations and for at least one of their board members to actively work to privatize our district up has demonstrated that they are
003not entering into this contract negotiation in good faith as any party in contract negotiations would do when terms do not live up to promises made and where threats are made Adams 14 rejected the proposed contract offered by you prep in October of 2022. you prep filed an appeal of our decision with the State Board of Education claiming that our rejection of their proposed contract was a rejection of their Charter application to be clear we approved you perhaps Charter application in December 2021 induced by the public promises and the timeline made to the Adams 14 Community and board the proposed contract did not match uprep's Charter application nonetheless through some nonsensical legal gymnastics the State Board claimed it had jurisdictions review that Adams 14 board's rejection of the proposed contract nowhere in state law is Authority
004given to the State Board to interfere with contract negotiations or override a local school district's rejection of a Charter's contract still the State Board remounted the appeal back to this board to reconsider our denial of the proposed contract of course the State Board conveniently failed to note the Durham threat made by up during contract negotiations and so here we are this evening to decide whether we will reverse our rejection of you perhaps proposed contracts um at this point [Music] um director Zaria would you like to read the resolution into the record or do we need to file them or make a motion first Mr salzer she should probably make that motion okay um I'm happy to do so um I'd like to move to approve resolution zero zero two affirming our October 11 2022 decision
005to reject University Preparatory schools proposed Charter contract may I have a second I'll second thank you now we read it into the record thank you so it's it's hard to remember back to virtual world I got it thank you thank you director resolution number 23-002 whereas under Colorado Constitution Article 9 and 15 the Adams County school district 14 Board of Education the board has control of instruction in its public schools and whereas Colorado law expressively states that the holding a public office or employment is a public trust created by the confidence which the Electoral reposes in the Integrity of public officers members of the general assembly local government officials and employees a public officer member of the general assembly local government official or employee shall carry out his duties for the benefit of the public
006of the state 24-18-103 CRS and whereas the board and its superintendent Endeavor to maintain the public trust through their acts and product protection over the Adams 14 School District Adams 14. its student staff Teachers Community and resources and where as this public trust obligation requires the board to negotiate and enter into contracts without being forced coerced or threatened by any person and whereas it has been recognized by the Colorado Supreme Court that local control is not only vital to continued public support of the schools but it is of overriding importance from an educational standpoint as well Board of Education of School District number one versus booth 984. um let's see whereas the Colorado Supreme Court also noted the framers inclusion of article uh section 15 makes Colorado one of only six states with an Express
007constitutional provision for local governance underscoring the importance of the concept to our state and oh at 646 see also Lujan versus Colorado State Board of Education the historical development of public education in Colorado has been centered on the philosophy of local control and whereas Colorado law recognizes items 14 as a body corporate and further provides items 14 the statutory authority to enter or not to enter into contracts 22-32-101 and whereas on December 14 2021 the board passed a resolution on a three to two vote approving a charter application submitted by University Preparatory schools you prep with conditions and whereas the resolution was passed based on public promises made by uprep to the Adams 14 Community and the board and its Charter application such promises included dual language component Pro programming supporting whole Child Development and
008social emotional learning SEL full day offerings at no cost to families serving students with special needs capping enrollment at 16 students per room serve early childhood education through fifth grade including Pre-K 3 and Pre-K four-year-old programming engage in a slow growth model by launching ECE 3 and 4 and kindergarten to start in August 2022 and growing one grade level at a time each year uprep would be physically located at Commerce City and year two would serve Pre-K 3 Euros Pre-K four-year-olds kindergarten through first grade and whereas uprep advised the board that the stability of their Charter School hinged on two key factors ability to meet anticipated enrollment figures and availability of affordable space in the proposed geographic area of Commerce City or the use of District space and whereas uprep identified three Pathways in its
009application to secure a suitable facility and whereas in its application you rep uprep was responsible for finding its own building space and whereas Adams 14 was now and is not obligated to ensure you prep secures building space and whereas uprep's Charter application identified its own funding sources and unreserved funding it could use to secure its own building space and whereas nowhere in the charter application was there any indication that you prep required board approval of a charter contract in order to secure its own building space and whereas you prep double down on its Promises by providing a timeline to the board and the Adams 14 Community as part of its application January 10 2022 kickoff Outreach and recruitment efforts for the 22-23 school year January 10 2022 February 22 through February 25th 25 2022 collect
010enrollment forms for pre-k three-year-old Pre-K four-year-old and kindergarten seats for the founding students 2 25 22 cutoff date for enrollment form submission by 5 PM forms may be submitted physically or through a digital platform March 10 2022 enrollment Lottery if needed for 2022 2023 seats March 10 2022 through March 24 2022 post enrollment Lottery Outreach to verify seats and pool from wait list if needed allows for five business days to pull from initial Lottery list and another five business days if any grade level needs to move to the wait list April 4th 2022 through June 10 2022 family student welcoming and orientation efforts July 18 2022 through August 3rd 2022 home visits for all new to you prep families August 8 2022 through August 12 2022 orientation week August 15 22 22 first full day
011week of school and whereas the board induced by these specific and detailed you Promises to the Adams 14 Community and board conditionally approved the charter application and whereas after conditional approval of uprep's Charter application Adam's 14 staff and designated uprep officials began negotiating a charter contract and whereas right at the beginning of the negotiation process uprep began pulling back on its public promises and timeline made to the Adams 14 Community and the board and whereas these changes to you preps promises and timeline were made in collaboration with MGT of America Inc without knowledge or approval of the board and whereas by contract MGT knew that its Authority was supervent to the Constitutional statutory and retained authority of the Adams 14 Board of Education and whereas no Adams 14 staff member was authorized to agree to
012any such changes to you preps public promises or timeline that induced the board to approve the charter application and whereas you prep did not seek approval from the board to make any changes to its public promises or timeline as identified in its approved Charter application and whereas in June 2022 uprep attempted to place in the proposed contract in material term that was contrary to the public promises made to the Adams 14 Community and the board promises that included the board the board to approve uprep's Charter application in the first place and whereas you preps new condition now sought to relieve it of the public promise to open pre Pre-K 3 and 4 year old classes the first year and the possibility of not having pre-k through K three and four classes the second year although
013you prep can conceded that a second year without Pre-K three and four classes would be a material breach you prep failed to indicate how the material breach would affect the contract as a whole or their status within the district as the charter school and whereas this late hour attempt to include a new condition was contrary to public prom missed me to the Adams 14 Community and board and whereas uprep was advised that such a condition was unacceptable and would require consultation with the ns-14 community and board and whereas days after uprep was advised that this late hour condition would have to be brought to the Adams 14 Community and board during a discussion with you prep representatives and Adam's 14 staff David singer U prep executive director threatened Adam's 14 staff by making a statement
014to the following effect I do not want to have to be in a situation similar to Adams 14 with MGT or Adams 14 with the state board and I do not want to have to talk to Steve Durham about any of this and whereas it is public knowledge that prior to uprep's threat Adams 14 publicly sought Colorado State Board of Education member Durham's recusal from any matters involving Adams 14 because of his open Express bias biases against Adams 14 and whereas in public pleadings that ends 14 has identified instances where Mr Durham has targeted Adam's 14 leadership and where as an example on January 12 2022 during a state board hearing Mr Durham expressed the desire to disempower Adams 14 leadership and find a way to completely remove their Authority and whereas Mr Durham previously
015has been accused of racism and discrimination against the Adams 14 Community and where it is also public knowledge that in Adams 14 board member filed an official Complaint of discrimination and racism against the Colorado State Board of Education because of Mr Durham's conduct whereas Adams 14 has publicly called out the State Board of Education for its failure to investigate the allegations of racism and discrimination against Mr Durham and whereas despite this open and public knowledge of accusations of bias racism and discrimination against Mr Durham uprep had the audacity to threaten Adams 14 with involving Mr Durham and contract negotiations and whereas upon receiving this threat from Mr singer and Adams 14 staff member immediately and strongly object objected to you preps threat and whereas that same day Adams 14 also contacted you preps Council and
016objected to the threat and whereas after its attempt to revoke its public promises made to the Adams 14 Community and board and based on Mr singer's threat Adams 14 no longer perceived uprep as a negotiate as negotiating in good faith and whereas on October 11 2022 the board unanimously voted to reject the contract with you prep due to its failure to adhere to its promises and timeline that induced the board to approve you preps Charter application and that the threat made by uprep to involve Mr Durham's regarding contract negotiations and whereas after the 4-0 vote to deny of the of the proposed contract the board continued its scheduled business and whereas in front of numerous Witnesses of the board meeting at 1 28.05 of the YouTube video uprep supporters which included at least one new
017prep board member began yelling and interrupted the board meeting and whereas the video of the board meeting shows Mr singer being present and whereas although the board president indicated that the u-prep supporters were not recognized to speak they continued to yell and interrupt the board meeting and whereas u-prep supporters begin exiting the board meeting a uprep supporter approached Adams 14 Superintendent at the diocese and slammed his hands in front of her while yelling and whereas you preps hostile physical display caused an atoms for team board member to stay at 128 21 of the videos that their conduct was so aggressive and whereas the Hostile physical display by a u-prip supporter without any intervention by uprep staff Mr singer or its board member affirmed and solidified the board's concerns about entering into any contract with this
018charter school organization and whereas on October 25th 2022 the board detailed its reasons for rejecting the proposed contract by uprep in a resolution and whereas you prep appealed the board's rejection of the charter contract to the State Board of Education by claiming the denial of the contract was the denial of the charter application and whereas on December 20 2022 the State Board of Education entered an order specifically recognizing that on December 14 2021 the board approved the uprep's charter application and you prep and Adams 14 were involved in contract negotiations and whereas the State Board of Education conveniently failed to address the promises and timelines and new preps Charter application you prep subsequent change of public promises and change of timelines after its Charter application was approved by the board or you preps threat to
019Adams 14 to have Mr Durham involved with the contract negotiations and whereas three weeks after the the State Board of education's vote to re-man this matter you prep proposed essentially the same contract that does not honor its public promises and timelines and whereas although uprep was advised that the board was still in the process of determining whether the contract reflects the intent of both parties you prep unilaterally and without warning filed a second notice of appeal with the State Board of Education and whereas upon receipt of the second notice of appeal the board's Council promptly asked you prepped to withdraw the notice so that the parties could engage in arm's length negotiations over the next 30 days and whereas you flatly refuse to do so and whereas uprep has given no indication that it is
020willing to honor its public promises and timelines let alone engage in good faith contract negotiate negotiations on remand and whereas while the board as quickly as as it reasonably could has reconsidered the proposed contract by uprep as required by the State Board of educations December 20 2022 order the board rejects u-prep's proposed Charter contract and it will not enter into a charter contract with you prep because of the reason stated in this resolution and whereas there is no meeting of the minds on the material terms of the proposed contract as the proposed material terms fail to live up to the public promises and timelines offered by uprep which induced the board to approve the charter application and whereas uprep did not seek the board's approval to change any of the public promises or the timelines
021presented by uprep and its Charter application and whereas uprep's revocation of its public promises made to the Adams 14 Community and the board is not in the best interest of the pupil School District or Adams 14 Community as those children whose parents were promised Pre-K 3 and 4 in the first year likely will never benefit from such programming and whereas this matter reveals concerns about Charter Schools inducing local communities and local school districts to approve Charter applications by making public promises for certain educational programming under certain timelines only to pull back on those public promises and timelines during private contract negotiations and whereas the State Board of Education has good reason to has good reason not to interfere in Adams 14's decision to reject the proposed Charter contract and the State Board of Education has
022good reason to avoid the temptation to believe it has the authority to approve the proposed Charter contract on its own and whereas the State Board of Education is aware there is no statutory provision allowing the State Board of Education to interfere in Charter contract negotiations and whereas the Colorado Supreme Court has been clear that the State Board of Education has no authority to approve Charter applications as a way to bypass a local school board's authority to approve or deny contracts as such acts by the State Board of Education would raise serious constitutional infirmities and whereas the Colorado Supreme Court further recognizes in Owens versus Colorado Congress of parents teachers and students that even when the State Board of Education mandates approval of a charter school application the charter school contract must still be subsequently negotiated
023with terms susceptible to the Local District and whereas when as here a charter applicant attempts to dictate terms of a charter contract by insisting on its preferred terms and both threatening and acting to involve the State Board of Education and contract negotiations the local board is effectively effectively deprived of its constitutionally guaranteed control of instruction and now therefore be it resolved the board will not be forced coerced or threatened by the State Board of Education or any Charter School Organization to enter into a charter contract that violates Adams 14's constitutional right to local control its statutory public trust obligation or its statutory right to enter into or reach check contracts and now therefore be a further result that after further consideration of the proposed Charter contract submitted by uprep to the board and based on
024the reasons provided and Incorporated here and it is in the best interest of the pupils the school district the community for the board for the board to affirm its decision to deny approval of the charter contract with uprep all the information referenced above including not limited to Communications reports draft contracts applications documents recommendations and resolutions are hereby incorporated into this resolution and made part of the official record unless protected from Disclosure by state and federal law foreign thank you director Zubia uh board members is there any discussion or comment okay seeing none um I'd like to move forward with roll call Ramona can you conduct real call please did we lose Ramona that's okay can you conduct real call on the motion please of course thank you Mr Amador all right Ms Estrada aye Ms
025Lovato aye Ms Molina hi Miss Zubia hi thank you that passes unanimously um with no other business before us uh I would like to move to adjourn may I have a second thank you uh Ramona roll call again please sorry that's fine Mr Amador hi Ms Estrada aye Ms Lovato aye Ms Molina hi Ms Zubia aye great thank you everyone for joining us this evening we're adjourned thank you