Woodland Park school board granted summary judgment in contempt of court case; plaintiff Erin O’Connell says she’ll appeal
On Oct. 7, Teller County District Court Judge Scott Sells granted the Woodland Park School District RE-2 school board’s request for a summary judgment on a contempt of court suit filed by Erin O’Connell, a district parent and business owner who is married to a district teacher. The judgment closed the case.
O’Connell’s suit against the school board was based on an earlier suit she filed in March, accusing the board of violating the Colorado Open Meetings Law at its Jan. 26 meeting by approving a Memorandum of Understanding with Merit Academy Contract School to bring the academy into the district as a charter school under an agenda item labeled “BOARD HOUSEKEEPING.”
That suit said the board violated the open meetings law again on Feb. 9 when it “rubber stamped” the MOU, and again on April 13.
The court issued a preliminary injunction against the board, finding that its use of the title “BOARD HOUSEKEEPING” was a “conscious decision to hide a controversial issue regarding Merit Academy, a related Memorandum of Understanding with Merit Academy and the intent to make Merit a charter school.”
The injunction ordered the board to “comply with the Open Meetings Law by clearly, honestly and forthrightly listing all future agenda items regarding Merit Academy.”
The second suit claimed that the board was in contempt of the court’s injunction at its May 4 special meeting when it titled an agenda item “Feasibility Study Presentation by Executive Director of Technology & Operations Miles Tuttle followed by BOE Q & A with Cooperative Strategies,” without mentioning that it was regarding Merit Academy Charter School sharing the Woodland Park Middle School.
In an order issued on Sept. 16, the court found that the board wasn’t “completely forthright and transparent in its agenda posting and the district wrongly chose to keep the feasibility study from the public. However, under the objective standard articulated by the Supreme Court, I am compelled to find that an ordinary member of the Woodland Park School District or person in Teller County would understand that Merit Academy and/or the sharing of space with the middle school or at some district facility was a likely candidate for discussion under the topic feasibility study….”
That was almost the end of the case.
The Oct. 7 order states: “The court previously found the Board of Education violated the OML (open meetings law) on January 26th, 2022, with agenda item titled BOARD HOUSEKEEPING. The Board cured this violation on April 13th, 2022, with agenda item titled Discussion and Reconsideration of Re-Approval of MOU with Merit Academy. The April 13, meeting was not a ‘rubber stamp.’”
The final decision states:
“THE COURT, having reviewed Defendants’ Cross Motion for Summary Judgment, and Plaintiff’s response to the same, hereby Grants the Motion and adopts the reasoning and facts therein. Accordingly, the Court enters the following relief.
The Court finds that Defendants have cured any previous violation of the Colorado Open Meetings Law related to the Merit Academy MOU by holding a subsequent properly noticed meeting where they engaged in renewed discussion of the Merit Academy MOU and heard public comment prior to voting.
The Court finds that the Merit Academy MOU, charter contract, and facility lease are valid and shall remain in full force and effect according to their terms.”
This decision to keep the agreements between the school district and Merit Academy was somewhat foreshadowed by a statement in the April 29 injunction, which reads:
“The board is duly elected and has the legal authority to make Merit Academy a charter school if a contract between Merit and the board can be successfully negotiated. It is not the court’s business to supervise the wisdom of that decision. However, it is the responsibility of the court to review compliance with the OML when a lawsuit is filed.”
The school district issued a news release last week announcing the summary judgment and the end of the case without trial. The release also stated that the court denied O’Connell’s request for the board to pay her legal fees and costs.
The release states: “The court’s order effectively brings a conclusion to a nearly year-long effort to use the Open Meetings Law as a political weapon against the Board and its efforts to improve the quality of education in Woodland Park.
This is in direct conflict with the court ruling, which states: “The motion for preliminary injunction was not frivolous, vexatious, or groundless. The lawsuit by Plaintiff assured greater transparency by the school board. The request by Defendant for attorney fees and costs is denied.”
Woodland Park School District RE-2 Board of Education President David Rusterholtz.
Board President David Rusterholtz said in the release, “I would like to thank the vast majority of Teller County residents who have unwaveringly supported us through this difficult time. I ask those who have opposed this Board of Education’s hard work to peacefully join us in working together to make Woodland Park School District the top school for public education in Colorado.”
Reached after the decision, O’Connor provided this statement: “I would like to offer a bit of truth to counteract the WPSD board’s public statement regarding my lawsuit. First, this lawsuit was never a political weapon. It was an effort to hold the school board accountable to the law, the district and the students.
“Second, I am not against Merit Academy establishing themselves as a charter school. My own children went to a charter school. I am for school choice. What I am not for is people in positions of political power using their position to further their personal agendas. This lawsuit was about new school board members who intentionally broke both policy and the law to further their own wants.
“Third, it is very clear that, even though the judge did not issue a summary judgment against the board, he can see clearly that the board only started following the law because of my lawsuit. It is an absolute shame that concerned citizens are the ones who have to put in all of the time, money, and effort, to hold a politician at any level accountable to the law.
“Fourth, the board statement spoke of this being a conclusion. To be very clear, this is no conclusion. I will continue to fight for transparency and accountability. I will be planning an appeal based on the fact that the board intentionally broke the law and had no intention of acknowledging or curing it without my lawsuit.”
Erin O’Connell is pictured in this February 2021 file photo.