The allegations at the Adams County charter school were sobering: Money inappropriately spent. Sexual-harassment complaints that weren’t investigated properly. Employees who feared for their jobs and their safety.
A controversy ensued, and the Adams 12 Five Star public school superintendent used leverage he had over the quasi-independent Pinnacle school to force out two top administrators this year, according to a federal lawsuit filed Monday.
The suit is intended to resolve an employment dispute between the former employees and officials at the district and the charter school.
But it also could answer a larger question on what some say is an undefined area of law: How much control does a supervising public school district have over personnel matters in a Colorado charter school?
“This will, I hope, differentiate the shades of gray,” said Denise Mund, a senior consultant within the Colorado Department of Education’s schools-of-choice division.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Denver by Margaret Summers, former executive director of the Federal Heights school, and Eugene Fischer, former transportation manager at the school.
They contend that the public school district and its superintendent, Michael Paskewicz, used threats and coercion and violated public-meeting laws in seeking to inappropriately control personnel matters at the school, the third-largest charter in the state with about 1,400 students.
A spokeswoman for Adams 12 Five Star Schools said Tuesday that district officials, including Paskewicz, had just received the lawsuit and couldn’t comment until it had been reviewed.
A charter school in Colorado is a public school operated by a group of parents, teachers or community members as a semi-autonomous school that operates under a contract or “charter” contract between the school and the local board of education. The state legislature passed the Colorado Charter Schools Act in 1993, and the first charters began the following school year.
Disputes between Pinnacle and Adams 12 officials have been heated and public. The district said Pinnacle was deficient in educational, performance, administrative and fiscal issues.
In April, Paskewicz demanded that Summers be placed on administrative leave, a request that Pinnacle’s board complied with, the lawsuit said. Then, she contends, she was fired.
Fischer, the transportation manager, said he was fired over allegations of misconduct and because his wife works at the school, which violated the Adams schools’ nepotism policy, the lawsuit said. He contends Paskewicz demanded his termination.
“One of the things that is really unprecedented is the amount of control the district has exerted over the Pinnacle school,” said Julie Tolleson, a Denver lawyer representing Summers and Fischer. “They’re going to be held accountable.”
The two employees are seeking compensation for lost wages and damages for violations of their civil rights.
Staff writer Alicia Caldwell can be reached at 303-820-1930 or acaldwell@denverpost.com.
