The president of the Aurora Public Schools Board says she plans to ask embattled board member Eric Nelson to resign his position immediately on Tuesday night at the board’s regular meeting in the wake of allegations that Nelson has fabricated academic degrees, among other deceptions.

Nelson is also running in next week’s Democratic primary for the House District 42 seat held by term-limited state Rep. Rhonda Fields, D-Aurora. Over the weekend, he rejected pleas to drop out of that race.

In a public statement released on Monday, APS Board President Amber Drevon admitted the board can’t remove Nelson from office but said she intends to strip Nelson of any duties and instruct administrators to remove his biography and any depictions of him “wearing academic regalia” from the district website until APS can substantiate his claims.

“Aurora Public Schools Board members have the responsibility to be honest and transparent with our community,” Drevon said. “As APS Board of Education President, I want to assure you that my fellow Board members and I take the allegations against Director Eric Nelson very seriously, and we are actively looking into this matter.”

Questions about Nelson’s background came to light last week in a series of investigative reports by The Colorado Statesman. Among numerous alleged misrepresentations, Nelson claims he has at least two master’s degrees from universities that say they’ve never heard of him. He has also described himself as a retired Air Force captain in resumes and in a press release and posted photographs of himself in a major’s uniform, despite having only served two months in the military.

Nelson won election to a four-year term on the APS board in 2013.

Drevon said in her statement she has asked Nelson to verify the claims in his posted biography and plans to ask district staff to “conduct a comprehensive review to determine the legitimacy of this information and prepare a report for the Board’s consideration.”

On the biography he provided to APS, Nelson says he has an undergraduate degree and a doctorate in organizational psychology from Southeastern University in Washington, D.C., a school that closed in 2009. While the school’s records have been transferred to another university, the registrar’s office at that school told The Statesman it won’t confirm or deny anyone’s attendance or degrees without a signed waiver from the student, and Nelson isn’t responding to reporters since news first broke about the controversy.

Nelson also says he has master’s degrees from Northwest Nazarene University in Idaho and Northeastern University in Boston, but officials at both schools say he doesn’t.

In other biographies and resumes circulated in recent years, Nelson has claimed to have earned another master’s degree from Southeastern University and to have attended Darton State College in Albany, Georgia.

In a lengthy statement sent to supporters and posted on social media last week, Nelson stood his ground and rebutted many of the allegations that have been raised about his background.

“Despite the claim of seven degrees, I did in fact earn all the degrees that are in question and graduated from the institutions that were accredited at the time,” he wrote, adding, “Although I have not signed a student release form of records, mandated by federal law, otherwise known as FERPA, copies of my credentials have been forwarded to the requested parties.”

“While the allegations about Director Nelson’s past are troubling, there is nothing in these allegations that would legally disqualify him from serving as an elected board member,” Drevon wrote in her statement. “As such, the board does not have the legal authority to overturn the decision of our voters who elected Director Nelson to the school board. Nevertheless, the allegations about both past and present conduct are serious and merit response by the Board.”

Drevon said she intends to ask the board to vote to suspend Nelson as board secretary and to remove him from other duties, such as serving as APS liaison to schools and organizations. She also said she will ask the board to join her asking for Nelson’s resignation.

Finally, Drevon said she hoped the scandal doesn’t distract from the board’s endeavors.

“I encourage the Aurora community to remain focused on our students and families as we continue the important work of increasing student achievement,” she wrote.

In a post to his “Inspirations & Motivations” Facebook page on Tuesday morning, Nelson offered the following advice: “Read, speak, and write your affirmations and goals repetitively and with deep emotion. Otherwise, nothing will change.”

He didn’t return a request for comment on Tuesday.

– ernest@coloradostatesman.com