The five-member Elizabeth school board is facing its second lawsuit in less than six months for allegedly flouting Colorado’s open meetings laws (COML) by adding last-minute agenda items and failing to properly disclose its reasons for adjourning in executive session.
According to attorney Matt Roane who represents Jessica Capsel in the most recent filing, the board members’ decision to adopt a resolution refusing to close schools or require children to wear masks in light of a future COVID-19 surge came without advance notice. The lawsuit claims the last-minute agenda addition violates the part of COML that states a public body must “post a full and timely notice for all meetings at which any formal action occurs.”
Capsel said she reviewed the board meeting agenda around 2 p.m. on the meeting day and didn’t see any reference to the resolution to keep Elizabeth schools open and education unrestricted. Rather, the item showed up at or before 6 p.m.
Failing to follow the law prevented Caspsel and anyone else who may have wanted to provide support for or against the issue time to weigh in. The board voted 5-0 to pass the resolution, which states that Superintendent Dan Snowberger will not comply with any “unconstitutional” orders from the governor or any other agency, and students will not be asked to wear masks, get a vaccine, or “participate in any other COVID theater.”
Capsel wants the court to order the district to provide full and timely notice going forward and to declare the resolution the board adopted to be invalid.
“I’m not interested in money,” said Capsel. “The district violated the law and should be held accountable. If they get away with this, what’s next?”
Another lawsuit filed by Roane in July accuses the board of breaking the law by not stating the topic they planned to discuss during executive session. While school boards are allowed to meet privately with their attorneys, they must state what the meeting is about.
Roane is asking the judge to declare the April 10 executive session public, meaning the board would have to release a recording of the discussion and to order the district to follow the law in the future.
Board member publicly shames parents
Shortly after Capsel filed the lawsuit, board member Heather Booth accused Capsel and another parent of stealing from the district by filing Colorado open records requests (CORA) to obtain non-privileged documents.
“Our district leaders are always happy to answer questions from any member of the community, but for two people to use CORA as a way to steal money from our classrooms seems to be a violation of public trust,” said Booth. Booth continued her claims on social media, saying Capsel is using the law for her personal agenda and is spreading lies.
Later in the meeting, Superintendent Dan Snowberger said, “Booth mentioned we have again experienced a couple more CORA requests over the last two weeks. We had another one come in today, so we’re continuing to process those as rapidly as possible. I continue to encourage our community to call us and we can provide that information.”
Capsel said she’d filed around five or six requests because she doesn’t trust district administration and wanted to go through the “formal legal channels.” A formal request also comes with a legal obligation to fill the request within a certain number of days. A phone call would not have the same effect.
Jeff Roberts, executive director of the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition, responded, “Coloradans have a statutory right to request information about their government – whether it’s a school district or a city or another public entity – and they certainly are not “stealing” money from classrooms or any other government programs by doing so.”
Roberts said districts have a responsibility to answer these requests, and the law allows them to charge up to $33.58 per hour after the first hour. “I understand that school districts all over the country are getting more records requests than they used to get, but it is still their responsibility to disclose non-confidential records when asked. Perhaps the district should think about proactive ways of providing frequently requested records to the public,” he stated.
Small Elizabeth district following Woodland Park’s footsteps
With slightly more than 2,300 students, the district may be small, but the antics of Board President Rhonda Olsen, Vice President Heather Booth and Treasurer Mike Calahan are beginning to mirror what Colorado parents and educators have seen in places like Woodland Park.
Earlier this year, three board members and one elementary school principal resigned over what they called constant lies, attacks, and chaotic board meetings that had taken away the board’s focus on what really matters to the district’s students.
Brad Miller, an attorney known for specializing in conservative education causes, represents Elizabeth and Woodland Park, as well as many other districts and charter schools around the state. Several districts under his council have been hit with open meetings violation lawsuits, including Jefferson County and Woodland Park.
In fact, a court recently ruled that the Woodland Park school district had to turn over a video and audio recording of three board members meeting with a superintendent candidate in the building after the regular board meeting had adjourned. The court found the lack of transparency “troubling,” and the argument that turning over the video would present a security risk to be unfounded.
Another lawsuit by Colorado’s largest teacher’s union and a local affiliate states the district violated open meetings laws when it revised a district policy and didn’t allow teachers to speak publicly about it.
CORRECTION 10/30/23: An earlier version of this article attributed a quote to Dan Snowberger that was from Heather Booth. Snowberger didn’t accuse Capsel of stealing money from Elizabeth’s classrooms.
