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ISSUE48 8 ISSUE
EEK OF EBRUARY 24, 2022 TW UESDAY , NFOVEMBER 2020
New COVID-19 restrictions will prohibit indoor dining, personal gatherings
Adams 14 advocates for its autonomy
Adams 14 School District Board President Ramona Lewis speaks at a press conference unveiling a forensic audit of the district’s former management partner MGT Consulting LLC Feb. 17. While the audit did not show criminal activity, Lewis said it si the reason the PHOTO BY SCOTT TAYLOR district’s board of education decided to end its contract with the consultant group.
Forensic audit raises questions, but no criminal acts
Salazar said the board members understand that the state will continue to monitor the district. “When I say the state board should just leave this district alone, this school board and its A long line of cars outside the city of Brighton’s rapid testing site at leadership might have a signifiBY SCOTT TAYLOR Riverdale Regional Park. The site has had to close early many days in recent cant mess to clean up,” Salazar STAYLOR@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM weeks due to high demand. Adams County’s 14-day might test positivity said..”They have torate take look at how MGT run this With forensic of17, their was 15.9apercent, asaudit of Nov. accordinga to Tri-County Healthhas Department. district, where are former consultant Brightonmanagement and Commerce City’s test positivity rates were the bothholes higher than in the dam and how to plug up behind them, members of Com13 percent. Forty-five people in Brighton and 29 in Commerce City have those holes. This is a significant merce City’s Adams 14 School died fromboard COVID-19 health To limitofthe spread COVID-19, amount work thisof district is District and related staff said it’sissues. going to have to do.” indoor and time for15the state moved to leave at least counties tothe tighter restrictions that prohibits District officials hosted the district personalalone. gatherings. “We are hoping the State Board press conference in their offices to release the results of their foof Education will leave Adams rensic audit of MGT Consulting 14 alone and let Adams 14 do its LLC. ThePhoto consulting group Ward was job,” Joseph Salazar, the lawyer by Belen for the district said at the Feb. 17 brought in to manage the district in Nov. 2018 after years of press conference.
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poor test scores and low graduation rates. The district’s board voted to end their relationship with MGT in January, with the company stepping away from the district earlier February. By EllisinArnold The audit showed the manColorado Community Media agement group had required the district to pay more than As Denver counties to $495,000 in metro fees to eight continue vendors. inch closer to local stay-at-home orders Board president Romona Lewis said functions vendors underthe Colorado’s systemthose of coronavirusperformed duplicated jobs the related restrictions, the state announced MGT Consulting group had been a new level of rules that prohibits indoor hired to do. dining and personal gatherings —a “This was a scope of work changeMGT that applies to the majority of the that was required to perform according to the agreeDenver metro area and many counties in ment between MGT and Adams other regions. 14,” she said..”Adams 14 paid Thetostate’s COVID-19 dial, which has fees these eight vendors for been in effect since September, is the set $495,486.18.” ofLewis differentsaid levelsthe of restrictions that each district pro-
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vided the audit to the District Attorney. That office has declined to move forward with any kind of criminal investigation, she said. “Based on the information they have, there is not enough evidence to move forward with criminal charges,” Lewis said..”The DA’s office left open the possibility of contacting them in the future should further evidence reveal additional concerns.” But the results of the audit are why the Adams 14 district terminated their working agreement with MGT Consulting. “The Adams 14 board still has a public trust obligation to insure that MGT acts and conduct were in line with the external management agreement,” Lewis said..”We will broaden our investigation to all contracts engaged in by MGT during the two-anda-half years they managed the district. Meanwhile, Superintendent Loría and the board will continue with our work to turn this district around.” Superintendent Karla Loría said those fees represent $495,000 in taxpayer money that should have been spent on students. “This is not, in my opinion as an educator, about the money,” she said..”It is about what we can get with that money for our students, and our students did not receive anything. county is required to follow We basedare on the not engaging with our adminisseverity of a county’s local virus spread. trators, our schools, our staff, The dial grew outthe of the state’sto safer-atour teachers, labor really home order — theand policyensure that came after move forward our the statewide stay-at-home ordereducathis students will get the best tion springwe andcan.” allowed numerous types of With the management group businesses to reopen. gone, Loria and the Adams 14 The state to color board are recently solely switched in charge of the identifiers — levels blue, yellow and district until a new management orange rather than numbered levels — to group is hired. “Until the avoid confusion.next Until(State Nov. 17,Board level red of Education) hearing and we meant a stay-at-home order. — Now, level don’t know when that next hearred — “severe risk” — district is the seconding will be — this will operate like any other school district in Colorado.”
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