School District 49 will continue its relationship with Education ReEnvisioned BOCES for at least one more year, following a school board discussion Thursday night that initially raised the possibility of straying from the Monument-based education agency. The organization, known as ERBOCES, landed at the center of controversy in recent months after authorizing what leaders called Colorado’s “first public Christian school.”
In remaining a member of ERBOCES, District 49 helps give the agency a better shot at a future, which was thrown into question after the unanimous decision by Elizabeth School District’s board Tuesday night to leave the organization. A BOCES needs at least two members and, along with District 49, Pikes Peak State College in El Paso County is a member. Should District 49’s five-member board have instead opted to no longer collaborate with ERBOCES, it would have immediately threatened the organization’s ability to continue doing business in Colorado.
Colorado has 21 BOCES organizations working with more than 150 districts, according to the Colorado BOCES Association. Each BOCES operates as a hub that eases districts’ access to critical resources and services, such as special education services, technology support, applying for grants and purchasing supplies.
While some District 49 board members listed off their concerns about the organization Thursday, others chimed in with details about the ways they see ERBOCES introducing more innovation to education and testing the boundaries of state law in hopes of improving student learning.
After close to an hour-and-a-half long debate, the majority of members said they would agree to work with the agency for at least one more year. Now, they have an eye toward possibly asking for another board seat from ERBOCES, pending whether other members join or exit.
District 49’s board did not take a formal vote Thursday — that would have been required only if the board had leaned toward leaving the agency, according to board President Marie LaVere-Wright.
Extending the partnership for a year will prevent students who rely on programming through ERBOCES from being forced to swiftly figure out a different plan for schooling, board members said.
“I absolutely hate the idea of displacing students,” board Vice President Holly Withers said. “I think that’s an awful thing to do.”
In an email sent Thursday night, Ken Witt, executive director of ERBOCES, wrote that the agency is “grateful” for the district’s “longstanding partnership and support.”
The district is one of the founding members of the agency and serves as its fiscal sponsor, transferring data and money between the state education department and ERBOCES.
“We remain committed to doing all in our power to ensure parents have access to the programs and schools they want for their children,” Witt wrote in the email.
The organization’s future, however, is still not necessarily solidified.
Leaders of Pikes Peak State College, its other member, plan to have conversations this month over whether they want to carry on as a member of ERBOCES, according to Matt Radcliffe, executive director of marketing and communications for the college.
When asked whether withdrawing the college’s membership is one potential option on the table, Radcliffe responded, “anything’s possible.”
“What we’re doing is reviewing our obligations through our system legal department,” Radcliffe said, “and we’ll have those conversations next week to make a decision of what our options are and what path that Pikes Peak State College will take.”
Meanwhile, District 49 board Secretary Lori Thompson, who also serves on the board of ERBOCES, said other districts are considering joining the organization.
Some argue lax state rules have spurred uncertainty about where public funds go
Multiple board members said they have been flooded with emails both from people passionate about parting ways with ERBOCES and others urging the board to keep its membership.
Public attention on ERBOCES has ratcheted up in recent months, mostly driven by Riverstone Academy in Pueblo County, where the agency authorized what it dubbed Colorado’s “first public Christian school.”
The school had a short lifespan. It opened in August and closed this month because of changes in state law that put an end to its eligibility for state funding, Chalkbeat Colorado reported. The state education department last fall began questioning whether the school was entitled to public dollars due to its Christian focus.
The school’s roots came from a conservative law firm aiming to ignite a religious freedom lawsuit that could rise to the U.S. Supreme Court, according to Chalkbeat Colorado.
District 49 board treasurer Mike Heil raised a range of concerns about the way ERBOCES operates in a 15-slide presentation. He pointed to what he sees as “evidence of acting as an irresponsible authorizer.” That includes Riverstone Academy’s original location shutting down because of zoning, building and health code violations after ERBOCES bypassed necessary steps in preparation to open a school.
Heil is also critical of ERBOCES using taxpayer funds to open up access to enrichment programs for homeschool students and private school students. ERBOCES contracts with private groups to offer more than 50 homeschool enrichment programs across Colorado, Chalkbeat Colorado reported. Among them are programs that provide ski passes and horseback riding and private music lessons for kids — the kinds of activities usually paid for by parents, Heil wrote in his presentation.
Thompson vehemently defended ERBOCES, accusing Heil of not doing his due diligence. Thompson said Heil did not consult her or anyone at the agency to answer his questions, which led to what she believes is “an incomplete and somewhat misleading picture.”
If “we have a legal and ethical obligation to look into it,” Thompson said, “I think we have a legal and ethical obligation to do it correctly by contacting the people who are involved.”
She also took issue with a claim by Heil that public dollars funneled to ERBOCES end up “disappearing into an untraceable black hole.”
She said the term is “problematic” and “hyperbole.”
Thompson said ERBOCES follows the same state reporting rules as District 49 and that the two share the same auditing firm.
“So if they are hiding all this public money, then we have hired the wrong auditing firm,” she said. “So I would like to see evidence of this untraceable black hole.”
Heil countered that the key problem is a lack of clarity around how groups that receive public funds for homeschool enrichment programs use that money. He said he also worries about eroding public trust in the board’s ability to spend dollars responsibly at a time when education funding is tight.
“Statewide funding is statewide, and so if anybody anywhere is using money in inappropriate purposes, that means that there’s less to go around for appropriate purposes,” Heil said.
LaVere-Wright, the board president, said bigger problems are at play. Among them, state rules around homeschool enrichment programs have been “incredibly broad and incredibly vague,” leaving little guidance for districts or BOCES, she said.
The legislature has taken initial steps to create sharper regulations around homeschool enrichment programs, especially those connected to ERBOCES. That includes measures passed during the last legislative session that would outlaw private school students from benefiting from homeschool enrichment programs supported by taxpayer dollars, according to reporting by Chalkbeat Colorado. Changes would also restrict the kinds of homeschool enrichment programs to those only found in public schools.
Despite public scrutiny of ERBOCES, LaVere-Wright said she considers the agency a “boundary pusher,” a role she believes is critical in all organizations.
“There are boundary pushers on the conservative side,” she said. “There are boundary pushers on the progressive side. The only way change occurs or that we learn what we really want as a community and as a society is by saying, where is the boundary? And then, do we like where that boundary is? Did we set it too far out or do we need to bring it back?”