Ellicott recall effort, disputes highlight changes in rural district

In 2001, a tornado touched down in the Ellicott School District 22 complex, destroying the administration building, part of the high school and the roof of the new elementary school.

Now another whirlwind is enveloping this small rural district on the eastern Plains: an effort to recall four of the five board members.

Both sides acknowledge that the battle has gotten too personal, including calls to the sheriff, a public apology by a board member,  a recall activist’s group home for children being vilified, threats against a board member’s children and someone spitting derisively on a recall member’s driveway.

But it also has highlighted the changes enveloping to the rural community.

Those up for recall are Todd Schainost, Sherri Jorgenson, Stef Dickinson and Gary Lake. Only Bea Twiss is not targeted. The recall committee must gather up to 278 signatures for each board member by the Sept. 13 deadline.

The effort was launched about eight months after Lake and Dickinson were elected to the board, along with Twiss. Jorgenson and Schainost have served nearly three years.

Two members of the recall committee, Gary Dahn and MaryAnna Clemons, were defeated in the 2009 election, and school board supporters call their effort sour apples. Board supporters also attribute dissatisfaction to the impatience of community members who expect perfection and immediate answers to complex questions from a small, overworked district staff.  

But others insist enough is ailing the district to warrant voting the board members out of office – dismal CSAP scores, problems retaining teachers, lack of communication, lack of transparency, nepotism  and a board that does the superintendent’s bidding.

Vanessa Dahn, the wife of Gary Dahn, says, “We aren’t sore losers, we are looking for accountability. I see some of this as an old boys network, where everyone has known everyone for years and years, ride horses together, where it’s hard to break in, and where they are used to doing things casually and resent anyone rocking the boat. ”  

The Dahns, who moved to Ellicott 16 years ago, have 17 children, including  biological, adopted and foster children, nieces, nephews and grandchildren. Gary Dahn was stationed at Fort Carson and they wanted the rural lifestyle and space for horses that Ellicott offered.

Downtown is a gas station on one side of the road and a bank and general store on the other.

The area is in transition, though, and growing.

Now centuries-old cattle ranches butt up against small ranchettes owned by city dwellers getting away from it all, and housing developments attractive to military families from nearby bases. This year the district added about 80 students for a total of 995. About 25 percent are Hispanic and  62 percent of students receive free and reduced price lunches.

The district, with a  general fund budget of more than $7 million, is considered a “starter school” where young teachers learn the ropes and move on to higher pay in the cities.  

The recall activists don’t think the district has kept pace with changing demands.

“We are insisting on accountability and transparency,” Vanessa Dahn says. For example, they pushed to get agenda packets available before meetings and have the topic of executive sessions posted.

They also note that the recall effort seems to have prompted more communication by the board and Superintendent Terry Ebert.

But as for obtaining financial information, Vanessa Dahn says, “We don’t think there is embezzlement or anything like that, but it takes an inordinately long time to get  it and repeated letters and requests.”

MaryAnna Clemons, a marketing professional and mother of three who’s been in the district six years, questions paying a financial administrator $9,000 extra a year to administer federal Title I money when she believes it should be part of regular salaried duties. She says that after many attempts, “I still haven’t gotten detailed answers to my questions.”

Board member Lake, who raises longhorn cattle and has lived in the region 31 years, says that no one has tried to hide or be deceptive.

“Like many rural school districts, the board was not used to a lot of questions,” he said. “It’s a learning curve. CORA (Colorado Open Records Act) laws are new, so it was things we never did that are necessary today.

“But also sometimes they want things that legally we can’t give them, such as personnel information. I know they don’t want to hear that.”

He says committee members accused him of conflict of interest because he runs a ranch company that has property that will someday be a subdivision in the district.  

“I’m not a financial partner in the subdivision. And the only financial agreement between the subdivision and school district are impact fees mandated by the county. Its not a developer or board member’s choice. It’s county policy.”

Board member Dickinson,  an x-ray technician who married into a long-time ranching family, says the board has sharpened its procedures. “It’s just no one had ever asked us to have meeting packets and things like that before. They trusted us.”

She added, “I came on the board to make positive changes. Why would we want to sabotage the district when we have children attending the schools?” 

The recall activists accused board members who have or have had relatives working for the district of nepotism.

Dickinson says that her brother-in law was coaching before she became a board member. “In a small town it is hard to find people who don’t know each other.”

Lake acknowledged that a family member of a financial administrator had helped out that person on an interim basis, but that the district changed that working situation.

The  El Paso County Sheriff’s Department became involved in the recall controversy when Dickinson reported receiving a threatening phone call, and when Vanessa Dahn reported someone spitting in her driveway. Deputies checked out both incidents, but determined there was no criminal activity.

Vanessa Dahn contends that since demanding answers from the district, her group home for at-risk youth has been under fire. It took five months to get a letter of support from the district that she needed for licensing, and there seems to be an increase in complaints about behavior problems from those connected with the school.

Board members targeted in the recall stand by their efforts to improve the district and the way they work with Ebert.

“School boards hire superintendents to run the district, so of course we listen to his advice,” Lake said. “The board’s job is to set the philosophy and policy. I mean, I’m a cowboy, not an administrator.”

He notes that in the six years that Ebert has been in the district, it has gotten off state academic watch and that finances have improved.

One thing that recallers and board members agree on is the need to improve assessment scores and teacher retention. The district's third-grade reading scores among the lowest in  the state.

“We have good teachers who are flying out the door,” said Gary Dahn. “They can’t handle the stress and  if they say something they are gone.”

Dickinson says the board conducted an employee survey and found that morale was low and staff felt unappreciated. “We are trying to improve communications and build morale,” she said.

Ebert, an educator for more than 20 years, says there are many reasons that teachers leave, from following their military spouses, to accepting higher paying jobs.  And with the heavy state budget cuts, the district had to cut four teacher positions.

He also said the district has provided requested documents. “The law says you don’t have to create documents. We provided the information we had.

“In a small district we have to be careful about how much staff is available to do things. If money was no object we could do a lot more, but that is not reality.”

Also, he said each year there is an audit of district finances, and the district has asked auditors for advise on the website where the district posts financial information to ensure it complies with state requirements.

“The concept is that school board meetings ‘are open to the public, but are not a public meeting.’ We want to be in tune with people in the district,” Ebert said. “But sometimes I sense that because someone wants something they want done, that somehow we have failed.”

Ebert sees an improvement in communications, and  the recallers say they have noticed it too.

“They are coming around on some things,” said Gary Dahn.

Clemons says, “Even if the recall doesn’t work, the community knows more than they did nine months ago.”