Monthly Archives: March 2022

CORA request – Illingworth requesting ‘list’ from Neal

On January 29, 2022, David Illingworth sent Dr. Neal and email where he requested
that Dr. Neal “use your best judgement in preparing a list of positions in which a change in personnel
would be beneficial to our kids, and would likewise help the union see the wisdom in cooperation rather
than conflict.”

A CORA request on 3/7/2022 for more information on whether such a list was ever created, yielded this response:

Findings: Per Superintendent Dr. Mathew Neal – no list was ever created, nor has a list been received by the Superintendent. No further emails were found.

(source document)

Analysis – this is encouraging, though it is unknown if there have been verbal discussions regarding this topic, if people may have been named outside of an official list.

Speculation – Illingworth has been a vocal critic of the WPEA union, especially in last night’s board meeting. However, he previously advocated chartering Merit as the priority along with a ‘flood zone’ tactic of other issues to reduce the effectiveness of opponents (read source email here). Considering how strong his anti-union rhetoric was in last night’s board meeting (see video, part 1), is this all just an attempted distraction from his admitted top priority of Merit Academy? I think this very likely.

Video of 3/9 board meeting

For those of you unable to attend the March 9th regular board meeting, the livestream on YouTube was recorded and can be downloaded here. Part 1 encompasses the portion up to the Public Comment section. Part 2 is the Public Comment section. Part 3 is the remainder of the meeting, up to the point where they went to executive session and the livestream cut out.

There was a fantastic turnout of concerned citizens at this meeting! Which of course should not be considered a ‘good’ thing for a school board meeting…it’s usually a sign of something wrong!

CORA request – Merit MOU

We have obtained a copy of the MOU with Merit, and it can be viewed here.

Regarding people hired to help with this process, the response about a CSI liaison is here. While not technically a CSI liaison, an outside consultant has been hired and a recent invoice can be viewed here ($2k). The invoice itself is not a lot of money, but the items billed for do shed some light on the overall timeline here.

3/9 meeting agenda

The agenda for Wednesday’s board meeting is now available, click here. Note, this agenda was updated Tuesday morning.

Looks like a busy meeting…unknown personnel matters justifying a (closed) executive session….talking about giving Merit academy space in the middle school…a stipend for the “leadership team” (is that just a fancy name for the board?). Plus some sure heated public comments.

Meeting starts at 6, usually doors open half an hour before at which point you can sign up to speak in the public comments section if there’s time.

School Board Looking to Share Middle School with Merit Academy

At the last board meeting, a MOU was agreed upon to pursue contract discussions with Merit. Well, that process seems like a formality and the board is giving appearances of having made up their mind. Read this announcement from Superintendent Neal that was sent out today:

Greetings, Members of the WPSD Community,

We are pleased to update you regarding quick-moving discussions about the usage of our facilities going into next school year.

Yesterday, Woodland Park School District Leadership engaged with Woodland Park Middle School staff and contacted a Merit Academy representative to explore sharing the Middle School facilities starting in the 2022-23 school year. While facilities usage remains a priority for our upcoming Master Facilities Planning Committee, the District recognized the timely need for a decision, especially as WPSD and Merit need to begin plans this spring to modify the building space. 

Additionally, the District feels confident that this plan will continue to meet the needs of our Middle School students and honor the value we hold for our community-based elementary schools. It is also important to mention that we will have the opportunity to expand and enhance our Middle School STEAM (Science Technology Engineering Arts Math) program and our Industrial Arts program as we configure the building through this planning process.

As we move forward, we want to remind our WPSD staff and community to remain focused on the learning and growth of our students. Our teams remain committed to our core values and mission of embracing a culture where all learners are empowered to pursue intellectual, personal, and collective excellence, a truly winning idea from our leadership team supporting our great students.

Further details of this plan will be shared at a future community meeting.

Have a great rest of the week!! 

Dr. Mathew Neal
Superintendent of Schools 
Woodland Park School District