From the 3/20/2024 Courier:

Woodland Park School District’s fiscal exigency

On March 1, WPSD Superintendent Witt announced that Gateway will be closed next year without any prior communication to stakeholders and without a single school board discussion. Ken said “This is a fiscal exigency that we need to consolidate these three schools”.

Why is the superintendent declaring fiscal exigency instead of our school board?

When mid-year budget revisions were presented in January and February, why was there no mention of a financial crisis?

Why have the self-proclaimed ‘conservative’ school boards elected since November 2022, consciously chosen to engage in deficit spending for the last two years if we were facing financial crisis? (Note that between 2015 and 2022, the general fund budget had been more or less balanced year after year. During the 22/23 school year, we spent $3.2 million more than our revenue. During this 23/24 school year, we have budgeted to spend $2.1 million more than our revenue.)

Why did district administration just quietly spend a very large sum on a new elementary Language Arts curriculum, and discard 5 years of curriculum that was completely paid for (AND that was selected using a rigorous process, involving input from parents, teachers, administrators and community members)? The new curriculum was purchased without ANY stakeholder input and is what’s offered at Merit Academy. How is this offering families ‘choice’?

Fiscal exigency? Why did we give our superintendent a 9.7% raise, with promises of a 5% annual pay increase and potential bonuses?

This is painful to witness.

Khurshid Rogers, Woodland Park

From the 2/7/2024 Courier

On Jan. 17th, the Woodland Park School Board voted to extend district superintendent Ken Witt’s contract with a vote of 3 to 2. Why would they want to continue with a superintendent who has caused so much turmoil? Why would they give him a substantial raise even though he is still working part time? Why would they renew a contract without reviewing his performance, as set forth by board policy?

During Witt’s term here, there have been numerous protests. There were two student-led protests against his hiring. Then, parents lined the streets protesting Witt’s order to move sixth grade down to the elementary schools. Also, after the unconstitutional gag order, 81 teachers and staff wrote an open letter to the community pleading for better leadership. Just last month, numerous citizens wrote letters to the board and there was a petition with 300+ signatures begging for a superintendent search. This obviously fell on deaf ears. His contract was signed, regardless.

What a contract it is! The average salary for a superintendent of our district size is $132,000 (full time), per the Colorado Department of Education website. Witt is now making $170,000 per year (part time), with a monthly $500 car allowance (you need that when you travel from Monument) and guaranteed yearly raises of at least 5% plus bonuses. He received this raise without any performance review, which goes against policy. Could you imagine what those extra dollars could do for our teachers and SPED department? At this point, Witt is just pilfering district resources from us taxpayers.

Not only is Witt wasting dollars from taxpayers, he is creating a hostile work environment. Yes, there have been numerous lawsuits due to bad attorney advice or unethical behavior. However, what’s more alarming is how he speaks about our teachers and staff. During the coverage of the teachers speaking out, Witt said our teachers are “bent on fostering a hatred of America.” If you’ve met our teachers you know this isn’t true. Or the time he was asked about mental health and social service resources he said, “we’re not the department of mental health.“ There’s been numerous news interviews where he just hangs up or stares blankly, apparently pleading the 5th, when questioned. So why do we renew his contract?

Renewing Witt’s contract without a review is against long-standing board policy and much less, common business sense. When checked by Director Barkley, it appeared Witt has never had a formal review done since he was hired. A proper review would show that we aren’t being fiscally conservative, that employee retention is down, student enrollment is declining, and overall morale has diminished. As a community, we need to be questioning why these actions are happening at such a fast pace. Why do we have an incompetent outsider promoting an extremist culture war on our once tight-knit community? Why didn’t we perform a search for $11,000 rather than giving Witt a $15,000 raise? We must stop this runaway train called Witt.

Bridget Curran

Synopsis of letter to WPSD Board of Education

• 30+ years ago: Taxpayers approved bond: Build middle school for 6-8 grades to move OUT of high school.

• MS students unique: not little kids, not young adults; need own space.

• Merit given ½ MS

• Sixth grade lost opportunities moved to elementary: 1 day of band, 2-3 days of electives. social studies & science instead of 5, no longer allowed to participate: Forensics, MS clubs, all MS sports.

• MS losing building. Considerations?

• Cost to move MS

• Job status current MS staff?

• Supposedly better 6th not with 7th/8th; OK for 7th/8th sharing building with Jr’s/Sr’s?

• Aging HS building; available space safe & appropriate for students?

• Sports programs; Currently, 7 basketball teams between HS & MS. HS boys/girls alternate early/late practices. How will multiple teams practice & play in just 2 gyms? Benefit to athletes? Other sports using facilities? Will MS track athletes be bussed to MS track? Costs?

• MS, “under utilized,” 5 classes per grade with 25-28 students; OK for Merit to have entire building with far fewer?

• Parking at HS limited. Space for another staff, parents, guests?

• Playground equipment at MS obtained through grant. Equipment relocated so MS students have access? MS has open space, and blacktop with basketball hoops, 4-square boxes. Where at HS is comparable space?

• Murals -MS walls designed & created by students. Merit already painted over work in current space; can assume same in entire building, wiping out what students produced in OWN building.

• BOE decisions without consideration of, nor input from, WPSD staff, students, parents continue to create animosity.

Laurie Gutierrez, Woodland Park

From the 1/31/2024 Pikes Peak Courier:

Woodland Park Middle School (WPMS) left this world on Jan. 19. It was declared dead to the public by email. WPMS is survived by its students, staff, parents, alumni, and community.

Woodland Park Middle School was born three decades ago to a community on the rise. A community full of hope with job opportunities for young families and natural attractions to support the growth of the area and a healthy school system. Woodland Park’s new middle school was a symbol of this community’s ascent.

WPMS was an in-between place which the community sought to give our kids an opportunity to thrive as they figured out who they were. It was a place for students who were not quite little kids anymore but not ready for the responsibilities of high school.

Many people reflect on their middle school years as the worst years of their life. Yet, for many, WPMS was something different. Former students described it as a safe place to mess up and have bad days. It was a place where students could fail, learn, and grow. Some said it was like a family, a place to be loved, a place for some tough honesty and accountability. It was never a school solely focused on academics. For 30 years, it was a place where kindness, integrity, and responsibility were just as important lessons as math and reading.

WPMS attracted quality teachers from across the country: retired military, former lawyers, field biologists, entrepreneurs, new and old teachers. It was a place where former students returned to teach because they believed in the mission and culture of teaching and connecting with squirrely 11-14 year old kids.

In its infancy, some even remarked that the WPMS building looked more like a shopping mall than a school. Sadly, its fate would be that of many shopping malls across the country.

In the early 2000s, a recession struck a blow to WPMS and Woodland Park’s schools as many businesses in the community and down the pass failed. People lost jobs and young families with children found it difficult to afford the cost of housing. The student enrollment began to decline.

In our society, people began to look for new opportunities to get what they wanted. Instead of the places which bring community together, people sought the convenience of their home computer or drove to specialty schools and stores which could meet their specific needs.

Woodland Park Middle School would never recover from these setbacks despite attempts to attract new students. WPMS chose to live life to the fullest: innovative programs, dances and pep rallies, expanding athletic opportunities, improving student spaces with new equipment and murals, field trips, exposition nights and authentic experiences for students.

However, it was not enough. Those from inside and outside of the community fought against Woodland Park Middle School’s efforts and it eventually succumbed to its fate.

Celebration of Life services forthcoming.

Memories, stories, and reflections can be sent to wpmsmemorial@gmail.com

Greg Spalding

From the 1/31/2024 Pikes Peak Courier:

Divisive at best

As a district parent, I am flabbergasted by the decision to extend Ken Witt’s contract as the WPSD Superintendent – with guaranteed, taxpayer-funded raises no less – without any formal discussion or evaluation. When Mr. Witt knowingly and intentionally broke the law and violated the first amendment rights of teachers, was that not worth even a mention? Is the continued hemorrhaging of staff under Mr. Witt not worth digging into? Is Mr. Witt’s alarming lack of transparency – both to the school board and the community –simply par for the course now? Should feedback from Mr. Witt’s subordinates not be solicited or even considered?

At best, Ken Witt is a divisive outsider who neither lives in the Woodland Park School District nor seeks to better understand and heal it. At worst, he is intentionally ripping at whatever tenuous seams remain holding friends and neighbors together while pouring hundreds of thousands of our tax dollars into his personal bank account. With so many less incendiary superintendent candidates out there, how can Mick Bates, Cassie Kimbrell, and Suzanne Patterson allow this disturbing behavior to continue unchecked?

Sarah Voget, Woodland Park

WPSD board: Fiscal conservatives?

January 17, our school board renewed a contract for Superintendent Ken Witt—expiring in June. Why hurry?

The offer: A $15,000 dollar raise (to $170,000), plus perks including 5% guaranteed annual increase and potentially $15,000 in bonuses. He retains his part time job for an organization championing charter schools and can work remotely—no required days in-district. While previous superintendents highly involved themselves in the community, most serving on the Chamber of Commerce, Witt has little to lose residing in Monument, with few visits to our schools and no performance review.

Salaries from similar-sized districts reveal Witt’s as high to mid-range—though other superintendents work daily, and have around 20 years’ experience and at minimum Master’s degrees.

Our teachers’ starting salaries ($42,000) are mid to low of comparative schools; only Cripple Creek pays lower, though our cost of living is 9% beyond the national average and median housing price is over $500,000. The majority hold master’s degrees. They’re required to work per district calendar and aren’t guaranteed raises or bonuses.

Witt’s contract was offered despite declining enrollment. October 2022’s pupil count was 1,977; October 2023 count was 1820 (decrease of 157, or 7%). His salary only comes from the 1422 non-charter students—a significantly smaller pot than pre-Merit Academy days. Meanwhile, parent protests remain at an all-time high.

Who wrote the contract? Clearly the BOE didn’t; this wasn’t on the agenda and was provided 15 minutes prior to vote. Who is watching our tax dollars? Can we afford this?

Carol Greenstreet, Woodland Park

A guest column in the Courier, written by our newest school board member Keegan Barkley:

It is 4 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 18 and I am wide awake. My conscience allowed me to fall asleep easily but my frustration woke me early. Superintendent Ken Witt’s contract was extended last night by a 3-2 vote in what, in my opinion, was a confusing and disorganized special board meeting. I feel it is my duty to the community to explain my dissenting vote. 

Nothing about this contract renewal followed best practices or ensured it was in the best interest of district families, teachers, and taxpayers. As a specialist in talent acquisition, I work with employee contracts daily. Contract renewals are negotiations that include honest conversations with the hiring manager, finance department, and human resources. Contract renewals require objective performance reviews. Contract renewals usually consider feedback from someone’s peers and subordinates. None of that happened last night.

In fact, the opposite happened. Because of the way the agenda was written, we were not legally allowed to negotiate Mr. Witt’s proposed contract while in executive session. We were not legally allowed to discuss the performance of the employee or the petition against the renewal signed by over 300 parents and community members, and we were not legally allowed to propose any changes to the contract. Our only options were to postpone the vote or to vote that evening.

Despite the fact we, as a Board, had only minutes ago received the contract, and the current contract is not up until June 3, board members chose to legally bind our school district and all the taxpayers who support it, to a 2-year contract extension. A contract with guaranteed salary increases each year when we do not offer the same to our teachers. 

We had the opportunity to start mending the cracks that have formed in our community – to do our due diligence in examining what our district needs to move forward successfully. To show the community who elected us that we can rise above our differences by undertaking a robust, objective examination of our superintendent’s contract and performance. Instead, another contract was rubber stamped with no consideration for the ramifications on the families who depend on us to think critically, not politically. 

This approach is irresponsible. It is not fiscally conservative or transparent, and it is not in the best interest of this district or our community. 

Board policy states the board shall:

1. Represent and govern the district by determining and verifying district/superintendent performance.

2. Ensure input from students, staff, parents and other citizens as a means to link to the entire community.

3. Develop and modify as needed written governing policies.

4. Ensure superintendent performance through monitoring District Purpose Statement and executive expectations policies.

5. Ensure board performance through monitoring governance process and board/superintendent staff relationship policies.

I will adhere to my duties, and I thank the other board member willing to put in the effort last night.

Keegan Barkley

From the 12/27/23 Courier:

Against American Birthright Standard

After listening to a recent televised interview with WPSD board member Mick Bates promoting the American Birthright Standards, I can see why the Colorado State Board of Education has rejected that manifesto.

While promoting the ABS, Bates said; “We’re going to look at the true history of this country.” Continuing he said, “One simple example is, yes, we had slavery, but we were the first to get rid of it. It’s a long story but it’s a good story. It’s a positive story because we ended slavery and I want our children to get the real history and education about America, this great country.”

Yes, we are a great Country, but the United States was far from being the “first” to end slavery. In fact, we were one of the last. And it took the deaths of 620,000 soldiers to abolish it. Enslavement ended here only with pro-slavery forces going down kicking and screaming the whole way.

As a former student of WPHS over 55 years ago, I can only hope that our children are not indoctrinated by what I feel is a John Birch type of system that is promoted by some who subscribe to a fairy-tale time where White Anglo-Saxon Protestants were the dominant force in America. That faction, in my opinion, has one thing in mind, take America back to 1950, where some are kept in the back of the bus and others in the closet. And those cantankerous females of today, back in the kitchen.

Steve Plutt, Lake George

Gaslighting the new normal?

In January’s school board meeting, Rusterholz spoke about transparency going forward, healing the divide. Already, however, named board roles, policies and money spent outside the county were decisions moved forward without Barkley or parents. A key school leader was fired without explanation. I’d like to know how Barkley was included in that decision made a full two weeks after she took her oath?

How is this transparent? Is Gaslighting the New Normal?

No incumbents stood up for parents or students during the campaign. Instead, calling students parents’ puppets, teachers the enemy, and candidates were mislabeled union puppets. Barkley was called a lame duck the day after she was elected.

None countered media that misrepresented challengers, all accepted Republican party money, aligning at public events despite boards being apolitical.

Illingworth harassed parents by name online, calling them liars with no evidence.

Before the election, Bates called a locked-out board crowd rabble-rousers instead of addressing the community of parents and teachers displaced by religious folks instructed to line up early. When I talked with strangers standing near me if they had children or grandchildren in the schools, the occasional Merit parent said yes. I asked others why they were there – “I was told to be here.”

Meanwhile, inside, religious people prayed from the microphone and scolded the heathens in the room, depriving actual parents their monthly 3-minute voice.

How is this transparent, humane, or anything but gaslighting? I remind this board that nearly 50% of citizens voted against this behavior.

Trina Hoefling, Florissant

Thank you to Kevin Burr

On December 15th, Woodland Park School District Central Office released Kevin Burr from his position as Principal of Woodland Park High School. In their announcement, no reason was given, nor was Kevin’s name even mentioned. As a parent of a junior at WPHS who has felt supported by Mr. Burr, I was left feeling very disoriented and disappointed. I would like to take an opportunity to thank Kevin for his accomplishments at WPHS since 2018. Some highlights include:

An increase in WPHS SAT scores every year for the last five years

Expanding our course offerings with a cybersecurity series and criminology series (supporting a law enforcement track)

Significant growth in college opportunities at WPHS. Kevin wrote a grant that allowed four of our teachers to get their Masters degrees so that they could teach college level courses at WPHS in math, science, english and social studies. He built partnerships with UCCS and Pikes Peak State College which allow for concurrent enrollment opportunities

Increasing career opportunities where students are graduating with industry certificates in culinary arts, welding, graphic design, and computer science

Keeping students in school and accountable through the COVID 19 pandemic

US News and World Report recognizing WPHS as one of the Best High Schools in Colorado in 2022/23

WPHS receiving a Level 1 Certification from Marzano High Reliability Schools for a Safe, Supportive and Collaborative culture

Thank you, Kevin, for supporting academics and also our athletics and arts programs. Thank you for making WPHS stronger.

Khurshid Rogers, Woodland Park

We are deadlocked on accusations of poor communication, biased moderators, and ill-intentioned organizers. Maybe Braver Angels can help. Instead of defining a fair forum as one that benefits a particular slate of candidates, what if we define it as one that features tough, neutral, and thought-provoking questions?
— Read on gazette.com/content/tncms/live/