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OCN > 2402 > Monument Academy School Board, Jan. 5 and 11 – Board discusses the financial risk of parental rights policy

Monument Academy School Board, Jan. 5 and 11 – Board discusses the financial risk of parental rights policy

By Jackie Burhans

Monument Academy (MA) held its regular meeting on Jan. 11 where it discussed a second attempt at its parental rights policy regarding transgender students, including the risk of being sued. MA also heard a presentation on a possible homeschool enrichment program and an executive director succession plan.

The MA school board held a special meeting on Jan. 5 to pass a time-sensitive policy on enrollment and board elections. The meeting ended in an executive session for legal advice on matters related to policy adoption and implementation and for discussions related to Title IX processes, employee performance, and student issues. No action was taken upon return from executive session.

Financial risks of parental rights policy

Board President Ryan Graham noted that the MA board heard an initial read of its Parental Rights Policy, provided feedback, and asked for a revised draft at a previous meeting. MA requested and received community input, which included approval, disapproval, and concerns. He took it upon himself to write a new draft to incorporate that feedback. The crux of the issue, he said, is that parents have the right to the control, care, and custody of a minor child wanting to transition to a gender that does not align with that assigned at birth. The new policy, he said, tries to support that position while following the laws that govern MA. Graham then proceeded to read aloud the new policy draft, which can be found in its entirety as part of the meeting highlights at www.monumentacademy.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/January-11-2024-Board-Highlights.pdf.

A parent spoke during public comment to support the policy creation and the previous resolution regarding parental rights and transgender students. Board Vice President Lindsay Clinton and board member Craig Carle expressed support for the policy.

Board Treasurer Joe Buczkowski asked that the legal opinion be read aloud. After reaching out to MA’s lawyer, Brad Miller, Graham read Miller’s email verbatim. After advising MA to remove the gender verbiage from the original policy title, Miller said that conventional wisdom would be to adopt the original (milder) version of the policy or no policy at all, which current political winds would support, noting that current courts would probably uphold individual students’ rights over that of parents and peers. Like Susan approaching Aslan the Lion, said Miller, a decision to adopt the new policy would not be safe, but the question is whether, like Aslan, the policy is good. Miller went on to say that, like public officials who supported masks, quarantines, distance learning, and vaccines, public officials who blithely dismissed parental rights may be seen to be wrong in future years.

Miller affirmed that there is a level of risk accompanying the new policy. There are viable legal arguments, he said, that the governing party adopted enforceable laws that mandate a charter school to acquiesce to expressions of dysphoria on the part of students, and it well may be that the law will be found to be consistent with the Constitution. Just as there have been arguments about other challenging topics such as abortion, same-sex marriage, slavery, the age of consent, and women in the military, it also may be true that courts may disagree, and it may take years to resolve. He said that the recent dialogue on financial risk was well-timed but outside of his scope, and MA may wish to continue that discussion. Miller said that now is the time for each board member to step forward and stand as representatives rather than a democracy and decide.

Buczkowski presented some concerns he has with the current draft language. These items can impact the finances of the school, he said, and the board and community need to be aware of it. The policy, he said, tries to be many things: It has elements of the proclamation, the resolution, and a sports, bathroom, and discipline policy. A policy serves as instructions to staff on what to do, but this policy does not provide clarity and confidence in those actions. This policy, he said, perhaps unintentionally, prohibits girls from being on boys’ sports teams, which has been accepted for decades. Board member Emily Belisle noted that MA currently has girls who play on the football team.

Secondly, the policy refers to the resolution saying that parents are encouraged to seek legal counsel, which, Buczkowski said, is not quite accurate. He noted that for other disciplinary actions such as bullying, verbal abuse, vandalism, or theft, there is no such language, and that could be seen as prejudice since the threat of legal action only applies to transgender students.

Thirdly, Buczkowski said the policy could be seen as a threat or intimidation. The process of transitioning at the school involves contact with the principal and ends with the paperwork requirement, which is immediately preceded by the threat of legal action. In any other case of needing a form for such things as a prearranged absence, an application for a sports team, an approved driver, or a parking permit, the process must be frictionless. MA cannot tell parents there could be legal recourse against them when the student hasn’t done anything. He noted that getting your name changed legally at the courthouse does not include the court saying that others may view your actions as a violation of their privacy and encourage those who do to seek legal counsel.

Buczkowski said he was trying to make sure not to expose the school to legal action but that, as written, a female student could sue the school for the right to play on a boys’ team, parents and students could sue because transgender students are treated differently from other students on disciplinary matters, and MA might be sued on issues of students’ vs. parents’ rights. Finally, he said, MA needed to develop its bathroom monitoring policy carefully or risk a lawsuit. He asked the board to consider and discuss whether these are really the battles and opponents they imagined with this policy. He said this policy was battling MA students and parents rather than state and national laws, which were the real opponents. He suggested breaking the policies apart and making the gender transition policy as frictionless as possible. If the board adopts this draft, it will expose the school to a lot of unnecessary financial liability, he said.

Clinton, noting that the policy had been reviewed by legal counsel, asked Buczkowski if he had brought his concerns to Miller and wanted to see what Miller thought. Graham said he didn’t see this as a sports policy, and striking through the one line was easy. He also said he was fine with removing the threat of legal action since it was covered in the resolution. The “hill he would die on,” Graham said, was the requirement for principals to notify parents of a student who expressed an interest in transitioning. Though it might not be legally OK, and he had been told MA might be sued, he hadn’t yet seen a lawsuit. If MA is sued, Graham said, he would bring it back to the community as the voice of the district to dictate MA’s direction. Board member Matt Ross said the goal of avoiding all lawsuits was different from the goal of protecting kids and expressed support for the changes.

Clinton confirmed she wanted to see a vote at the Feb. 8 meeting, given upcoming field trips and leadership changes. She noted that Buczkowski had voted on the resolution in June. Buczkowski replied that all board members signed the resolution, which also said the board affirms that MA shall support the privacy and dignity of each student and shall not discriminate against individuals based on sex, gender expression, and identity. He said he would love to hear more from legal on the student vs. parent rights issue and what body of law supports this policy. Graham said he would revise the draft policy and ask legal counsel to join the Feb. 8 meeting.

The draft policy can be seen in the Jan. 11 board highlights linked above, and the entire discussion can be seen online at www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8-CCdmpyY0&t=28s.

Audit presentation

Tom Sistare of Hoelting & Company Inc., MA’s audit firm, joined the meeting via Zoom to present MA’s annual audit report. Noting that Hoelting’s team was out last July for internal control testing and had designed the audit based on those tests, Sistare reported an unmodified or clean opinion on the financial statements. He said there were no internal control findings.

Homeschool Partnership program

Interim Chief Operating Officer Kim McClelland presented a potential homeschool enrichment program for MA to offer to families who choose homeschooling over enrollment at MA. She worked with Janyse Skalla, who had done some distance learning work for MA during the pandemic, to make sure that MA’s program stands out by offering personalized learning. A lot of families start homeschooling and get overwhelmed and wish they had support, she said.

McClelland recommended MA focus on kindergarten and first grade to start and hire one program manager/consultant to oversee administrative duties. One full-time teacher would lead the instructional classes that are required to receive funding. MA should hire a classroom assistant for lunch and recess monitoring, she said, and those three positions would make up the core of the MA Homeschool Partnership (MAHP) program. Classes would be held on Tuesday and Thursday with a maximum of 44 students and a minimum of 25 students required to break even. The program would be funded by the state, with each student receiving 50% of per pupil revenue (PPR). MA could decide to start with fewer students and accept an initial loss.

McClelland said she had discussed a marketing plan with Marketing Manager Kendra Kuhlmann and discussed developing a section on MA’s website and holding a Town Hall meeting to gauge interest. She said startup costs would be $3,000, and MAHP would have a curriculum lending library for homeschool parents.

The board consented to extend Skalla’s contract through the Town Hall meeting to move forward with considering the program.

Executive director succession plan

McClelland, who has been acting as executive director (ED) for MA, gave an overview of a succession plan for her position. Graham said the board could approve this plan at the meeting so it could post the position in early February.

Noting that choosing an ED is one of the board’s most important responsibilities and that she has enjoyed being at MA but was not throwing her hat into the ring, McClelland laid out the steps, committees, and processes needed:

  1. Understanding strategic priorities, strengths, weaknesses, and competencies.
  2. Standing up three essential committees: Informal Advisory, Screening, and board HR committees.
  3. Communication and transparency.
  4. Transition and onboarding.
  5. Setting and following a timeline.
  6. Talent pipeline and emergency ED plan.

The committee will draft the job description, including compensation, and post it in early February. The screening committee would review applications, and the HR subcommittee would choose the three top candidates. In mid-March, before spring break, a special board meeting would be called for candidate interviews. In early April, the board would identify the finalist and start the transition process.

Enrollment and election policies updated

At its Jan. 5 meeting, the board considered policy JG-MA Enrollment and Placement. The policy, which MA had vetted and approved by legal counsel, sets the date to Aug. 15 by which incoming students must be 5 years old while grandfathering in any student who has been added to MA’s waitlist by Jan. 5.

The board then considered policy BBB-E-MA Board of Directors Election Process, which has been reclassified to follow the Colorado Association of School Boards (CASB) nomenclature and had various spelling and grammatical corrections as well as terminology corrections. The most substantive change was to supply a missing form required by applicants. The board unanimously approved the policy and indicated that board member Ross should use them to start the process for the upcoming election of two three-year-term board positions.

For more discussion on these policies, see www.ocn.me/v24n1.htm#ma. All MA board policies can be found at www.monument.academy.net/school-board.

Highlights

Board meeting highlights include:

  • McClelland noted that the high school had been hit hard by a virus in December, resulting in 40 missed exams, which it was working hard to make up.
  • McClelland said that HR Director Krista Pelley was working hard on the ABACUS payroll system transition, which was going smoothly.
  • McClelland reported intent-to-return rates use a range as some students are undecided and show for elementary school 82-90%; middle school 91-96%; ninth grade 26-37%; and 10-12th grade 81-83%.
  • Graham reported on the Highway 105 project that lights were removed and access to the church was closed. The project is working to complete a road to connect to the top of the “S” curve to create a loop in front of the school. He said the goal is to get vehicles off Highway 105 to provide safety, but that traffic was still backing up onto 105. West Campus administration is diligently looking at solutions as it works through Phase 3 over the next four months, he said.
  • Buczkowski said the governance committee was working on prioritizing policies to review.
  • Board member Karen Hoida said the Safety and Security Committee is pleased that a second school resource officer (SRO) has been added.

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The MA School Board meets at 6:30 p.m. on the second Thursday of each month. The next regular board meeting will be on Thursday, Feb. 8, at 6:30 p.m. at the East Campus. See more information at see bit.ly/ma-boe.

Jackie Burhans can be reached at jackieburhans@ocn.me.

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