The State Board of Education removed the Adams 14 School District’s exclusive chartering authority at the request of a charter network.

In a 5 to 4 vote at its May meeting Thursday, the state board found University Prep, the charter network, met the burden for showing Adams 14 has “demonstrated a pattern of failing to comply with the Charter Schools Act,” the agency announced in a press release.

The decision means the district lost its exclusive authority to approve or deny charter applications, as well as decide whether charters within Adams 14’s borders can seek authorization from the state. The district will now share authority for granting charter applications with the state-run Charter School Institute.

The Denver Gazette has reached out to Adams 14 for comment.

The vote marks a continuation of a few years of turmoil for Adams 14, which is under state-mandated improvement orders because of several years of poor academic performance.

The charter network has argued with Adams 14 for over a year, winning two state appeals against the district. But Adams 14 has not approved a contract to allow the school to open an elementary charter school.

The board decision opens the door for University Prep to seek state authorization and open over the district’s objections. 

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In Colorado, school districts start off having exclusive chartering authority, meaning any charter looking to open within a district’s boundaries must ask for permission. Even if schools wished for the state Charter School Institute’s approval, they have to ask the local district to allow it.

When districts lose their exclusive chartering authority, prospective charter schools can apply to either the district or the state agency, without getting prior permission.

Districts can ask for that authority back – if they prove to the state they do not have a pattern of being unfair to charter schools.

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Three small districts have lost exclusive chartering authority, according to information from the state Department of Education. Of districts with more than 3,000 students, two others have lost the authority – Poudre and Fort Morgan.

The conflict between University Prep and Adams 14 has hinged largely on whether the charter school would be able to open with a preschool in its first year, as originally proposed.

In the dispute, Adams 14 accused University Prep of threatening the district, the charter accused the district of demanding it sign a loyalty agreement, and the parties disagreed over how much each has tried to resolve the issues.

University Prep leaders argued on Thursday that state law allowed them to request that the district lose its exclusive chartering authority because it showed a pattern of unfair treatment of charter schools – including by not complying with state board orders. They also said they had no other recourse outside the courts.

Adams 14 leaders argued that the charter network only made the request because they were unhappy with the outcome of their contract negotiations and dealings with the district. The district said that one case didn’t constitute a pattern, and that they had obeyed the state board orders by trying to restart negotiations, but that they could not be forced to agree with their requests.

Some state board members said that the law is unclear, now that two state appeals had been exhausted, and that the dispute that remained appears to be a contract issue. They said it seems to be an area needing new legislation.

Board member Lisa Escárcega said she previously worked in a district that had a clearer pattern of being anti-charter, but that it was never brought to the state’s attention. She said the Adams 14’s case didn’t seem like a pattern to her.

Escárcega voted against taking away the district’s charting authority, along with board members Karla Esser, Kathy Plomer, and Rhonda Solis, all Democrats.

Board Chair Rebecca McClellan and Angelika Schroeder, both Democrats, joined three Republicans – Steve Durham, Stephen Varela, and Debora Scheffel – to vote in favor of removing that authority.

McClellan said she is thinking of families who have already been waiting years to see this school open.

“They are here for relief because they have no other option and time is of the essence,” McCllellan said. “I am convinced there’s a pattern. I am convinced there is an equity issue.”

Two state-approved charter schools operate in the district. When the schools recently sought district approval instead, they were also denied.

The district has been under scrutiny for the last few years. The Board of Education revoked Adams 14’s accreditation in October 2021 and again in May 2022. The resulting order by the board for the district to reorganize, which could result in it dissolving altogether or neighboring districts absorbing it, prompted the president of Adams 14 to resign.

In February, the Colorado Supreme Court agreed to hear a challenge by Adams 14 of a district court judge’s decision dismissing a lawsuit by the district against Board of Education.

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Joseph Salazar, an attorney for Adams 14, told the State Board that University Prep is an abusive organization. That is why the district did not want to allow University Prep to open a school under state agency approval, he said.

He compared the situation of being forced to negotiate with an abusive outside entity to the state forcing the district about two years ago to work with their previous external manager, MGT Consulting. The district ultimately ended that contract, despite being under State Board orders to hire an outside manager.

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.