Springs politicians urge Monument voters to oust incumbents

Two politicians who do not live in Lewis-Palmer School District 38 are urging voters to oust three incumbents in the Nov. 1 board election.

Peggy Littleton, an El Paso County commissioner,  and Angela Dougan, a Colorado Springs City Council member, made campaign messages sent by robocalls to Monument area voters supporting three challengers.

D-38 covers the Monument area. Littleton lives in the city limits of Colorado Springs, and Dougan lives  Academy School District 20.

“I was shocked,” said Nancy Inverson-Herbert, a retired accountant who received a message. “I thought what in the world are they doing talking about this race? I thought it was very tacky.”

Others who received the calls also were puzzled.

“They are manipulating our election,” said Incumbent Mark Pfoff, who is running for his second term along with board President John Mann and member Robb Pike.

Mann said local control is important for districts. “We should be careful about setting a precedent where people outside the district endorse candidates and agendas in someone else’s district, and candidates should be careful about accepting the endorsements.”

Littleton said in an interview she felt invested in the race because she was a state school board member for seven years. She has attended forums organized by Lewis-Palmer Direction 38!, which has been critical of the district. “We want to make sure districts are fiscally responsible,” she said.

Dougan mentions voting for “fiscal conservatives” in the robocalls. She said in an interview that she moved her children from D-20 to D-38 because she liked the teachers and administration and felt it was a better fit. She was upset after a school was closed. (The district said at the time it was necessary because of state cuts.)

Alfred Maurer, who’s running for the D-38 board on a slate with Ken Valdez and Gordon Reichal, said his election committee paid for robocalls. He said it’s fine to have Littleton and Dougan weigh in on the election. “We are trying to bring new ideas and the incumbents have never had a contested race. We want to broaden the scope of who to consult.”

In a recent letter on the Gazette Opinion Page, Dougan asserted several things that district officials say are inaccuate or misleading.

Dougan said the district had been “fined” $225,000 by the Colorado Department of Education because it over counted students because of its “inability to understand and follow the regulations.”

The state does not fine districts, said CDE spokeswoman Janelle Asmus. “It’s not punitive. Enrollments in districts change over time and we just have auditors take a second look.”

In 2010, more than one-fourth of Colorado’s districts owed the state money for overstating enrollment, according to reports.

Assistant Superintendent Cheryl Wangeman said the over count was in the 2007 audit of years 2003-2007 when the district had a trimester system that has since been abandoned.

The incumbents weren’t board members then.

The district contested the CDE audit, and the two parties agreed that the district owes about $186,000, according to a CDE letter. An additional $43,000 may be owed to the state for overpayments of transportation and other costs, according to a September letter.

Dougan also claimed that the district reserves dropped to less than five percent.

Wangeman said that board policy sets a minimum 6 percent in fund balance reserves, while the state requires only 3 percent. The lowest the district has been was 9 percent and that was in 2009, Wangeman said. It is now at 21 percent.

Reserves are for cash flow needs and emergencies. The drop was due to funding cutbacks, she said. “We did it to try to keep the cuts from the classroom.”

Dougan also said the district cut Advanced Placement courses. Wangeman said the district actually has added four this year, and will add three more next year. The school is in the top two percent of the nation in College Board scores, which are based on AP tests.