paid an outside company that’s come under scrutiny more than $65,000 for a Brazilian film crew to shoot a promotional video for the districtap teacher residency program in 2024, according to documents obtained by The Denver Post.
The Postap findings come as the Board of Education has scrutinized expenses made by the company, — including the possibility that it overbilled Cherry Creek for monthly travel costs and sought reimbursements for alcohol purchases.
“The expense of it is primarily one of the larger pieces of it that we are definitely concerned about,” Angela Garland, who was board president at the time, said about the video. “Just the lack of communication that this was even happening. We have (a media team) in-house or have that available locally.”
The video, which was shot in the summer two years ago by a Brazilian company called , is less than six minutes long. It features both former Superintendent Christopher Smith and his wife, Brenda Smith, the district’s human resources officer, talking about the Aspiring Educator Pathway program.
David Palumbo and Richard Boerner, two executives with Education Accelerated, also make brief appearances in the video — as does Garland.
“I was clueless about them being from Brazil,” she said of the crew. “… I just thought it was something we were filming for the website — a social media or some educational piece down the road.”
The school board terminated the districtap contracts with the company after investigating the Smiths’ connections with Education Accelerated, which the couple has awarded nearly $3 million worth of contracts since 2023.
Christopher Smith resigned in January. Cherry Creek Schools placed Brenda Smith on in February.
After Filmistas traveled to Colorado to shoot the video, Cherry Creek reimbursed Education Accelerated for an additional $6,914.55 in travel costs for the film crew, including airfare from São Paulo and hotels, according to expenditures reviewed by The Post.
The film crew’s travel expenses were dated for July 2024, but Cherry Creek did not approve their hiring until October, documents show.
At that time, Christopher Smith and the Board of Education signed off on a multiyear contract with Education Accelerated worth as much as $2.6 million, which included an allocation of $85,000 for media development. The funding included $65,000 for Education Accelerated to hire Filmistas to document the development, design and implementation of the Aspiring Educator Pathway program, according to the contract.
Education Accelerated’s CEO Alicia Densford did not respond to multiple requests for comment, including a detailed list of questions. Filmistas also did not respond to a request for comment.
Cherry Creek Schools isn’t the only district to question expenses made by Education Accelerated employees. The company also worked with , which signed a $300,000 deal with the firm in March 2025.
Palumbo, the chairman of Education Accelerated, sent APS Superintendent Michael Giles an invoice seeking $4,756.15 in reimbursement in travel expenses last summer, emails show. Giles, upon receiving the invoice, asked Palumbo if the travel costs were part of the memorandum of understanding setting out the arrangement between the district and the company.
“No,” Palumbo responded. “Not as we wrote it. Travel has been steep do (sic) to last minute airfares this time. It will be much less when we lock in travel going forward.”
“I guess I was unaware that travel and associated costs would be billed separately,” Giles replied. “… Of course, we will make good on this invoice, but I think we need to consider all future meetings virtual unless mutually agreed (on) the need for an in-person meeting.”
APS stopped working with Education Accelerated last year and with TruFit Talent in January, said APS spokesman Corey Christiansen.
