"Irrecoverably Broken': Adams 14 School District's Request To Drop Management Company Rejected
ADAMS COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4)- The Colorado State Board of Education unanimously rejected, for now, a bid by the Adams 14 school district to drop the management company assigned to oversee it. For years, the Adams 14 school district has had the dubious distinction of being one of the poorest performing in the state of Colorado.
To correct that, the state board of education brought in MGT Consulting Group to take over the operations. To put it mildly, it hasn't gone well with the district.
That was made clear at an online state board meeting by Commissioner Katy Anthes who said, "It is clear the contractual relationship is irrecoverably broken."
The state board members voted unanimously to deny the district's request to immediately get out of its relationship with MGT. In part, that was because Adams 14 won't turn over the results of an audit done on MGT.
District leaders says that's because it was given to the Adams County District Attorney.
Adams 14 attorney Joseph Salazar said during a news conference, "There have been lots of questions about that forensic audit and why we haven't turned it over because we have been advised in the course of the investigation that the by the district attorney's office that turning it over might compromise the integrity of the investigation."
But the DA's office spokesman Chris Hoppe emailed CBS4, "While there is a small chance that the public dissemination of that information could potentially create investigative-related issues down the road, if additional action is required, it belongs to Adams 14 and it is the school district's choice to do with it as it sees fit."
The DA'S office emphasizes there is no criminal investigation.
This district has 6,000 students, hundreds of teachers and millions of dollars. So how does this bureaucratic brawl impact the students?
Superintendent Karla Loria said, "Sadly, I think it has a very negative impact, enough is enough."
The Adams 14 board insists this fight is not over. It plans to get rid of MGT Consulting.
