WESTMINSTER — A board member who apologized to voters for the way Adams County School District 50 is spending a $98.6 million bond issue is under fire by many who want her to quit.
But Marilyn Flachman — who served the district for 43 years as a librarian before being elected to the board in November 2005 — says she’s not stopping her criticism of fellow board members or district administrators.
Flachman also hired a First Amendment lawyer to ensure that her right to speak out will not be abridged by critics.
“I speak and vote my conscience. I don’t give that up as a board member.”
Her detractors, however, say Flachman is grandstanding and taking attention away from the district’s efforts to re-energize and pull itself out of the academic basement.
“We’ve got so many positives now in the district, and that’s why what Marilyn is doing is hurting the rest of us,” said school board president Vicky Marshall.
Flachman, earlier this year, wrote a letter to the Westminster Window newspaper blasting a decision to spend $2 million on administration offices in a newly minted Westminster High School.
She said the money was not part of the bond package passed in November 2006. Neither was the $90 million revamping of Westminster High.
She said she and others were under the impression that the bond proceeds were to improve nearly every school in the district, which has seen its enrollment drop from 17,000 in the 1970s to about 10,000 today.
“I knocked on your doors, telephoned you during dinner hours and mailed you messages asking for support to replace and repair our aged facilities,” Flachman wrote. “Now, I am personally agonizing that $2 million will be spent on new district administrative offices and not on improving existing classrooms.”
The February letter set off a furious response from board members, administrators and parents who said Flachman should be supporting the district’s efforts. Board members lashed out at Flachman at a meeting in late February in what some called a public lynching.
“I was shocked,” said parent Sharon Whitehead. “Any questions a board member has should be respected and not demeaned, like what happened to Marilyn.”
Flachman said she has had to file requests under Colorado’s Open Records law to get information about the bond issue and administrator’s salaries.
But Marshall said Flachman has never been denied access to documents and that this is simply a way to gain attention.
Some say Flachman should at least apologize, if not resign, for her actions.
“I would say a lot of people in the district, including those who worked hard on trying to ensure the bond money was well-spent, felt betrayed by Marilyn,” Marshall said. “Her letter was protected by the First Amendment, and those who attacked Marilyn can claim the same First Amendment right.”
The decision to create administrative offices in Westminster High was made by a 20-member citizens group for many reasons, including the lack of another site, said Superintendent Roberta Selleck.
But it is also part of a push to turn the school into a state-of-the art building that will attract students both in and outside the district, said Selleck, who took over as superintendent in 2006.
The district — currently on the state’s academic watch list — needed a stiff shot of new ideas. “When I was hired, this district was in jeopardy, and we needed a kick-start,” Selleck said. “We needed to jazz this place up.”
Monte Whaley: 720-929-0907 or mwhaley@denverpost.com
About District 50
Schools
Preschools: 1
Elementary Schools: 13
Middle Schools: 3
High Schools: 3
Special Program Centers: 1
Students
Boys: 51%
Girls: 49%
Latino: 66%
White: 25%
Asian: 6%
African-American: 2%
American Indian: 1%
Source: Adams County School District 50
