This story was first published at Colorado Chalkbeat.
DENVER | A controversial Colorado education group will continue to exist for at least 10 more months after a clause in a 13-year-old agreement prevented one member from exiting.
Until late last week, the group, Education reEnvisioned Board of Cooperative Educational Services, or ERBOCES, appeared to be on the brink of collapse because Pikes Peak State College was set to withdraw Aug. 15.
Colorado Education Commissioner Susana Córdova sent ERBOCES a letter on Friday suggesting the co-op should start dissolving, since it would soon have a single member, School District 49 in El Paso County. State law requires two.
But a lawyer for ERBOCES responded, saying a 2013 agreement required Pikes Peak to give a year’s notice before withdrawing. The college isn’t fighting the requirement.
“There was an agreement signed in 2013 that I feel compelled to honor,” said Lance Bolton, the president of Pikes Peak. “I think it’s just a matter of integrity.”
The decision represents a win for supporters of ERBOCES, which authorizes several online schools and dozens of publicly funded programs for homeschoolers. It’s a setback for opponents who argue that ERBOCES often operates in the gray areas of state law.
Ken Witt, ERBOCES executive director, said by email Monday, “We are grateful that Pikes Peak State College committed in their membership MOU to one year’s notice before withdrawal.”
ERBOCES has recently been at the center of two major controversies: the creation of a now defunct “public Christian school” and the launch of homeschool programs that used state money to pay for sports camps, horseback riding, and skiing.
Colorado lawmakers cracked down last spring, limiting the group’s ability to authorize public schools and homeschool programs. The Colorado Department of Education has also recently taken a harder line on ERBOCES.
Bolton said the Pikes Peak State College announced it would withdraw from ERBOCES in June not because it had an opinion on the “Christian public school” or homeschool enrichment programs.
“We’re not against them. We’re not for them.” he said. “They’re just not what we’re here for.”
He said the college originally joined in hopes of collaborating on concurrent enrollment efforts, which has been a small part of ERBOCES” work. As a member of ERBOCES, Pikes Peak gets to have a representative on the co-op’s board. Bolton said the college’s previous board representative has too much on her plate, and a new one will be selected.
In June, when Pikes Peak announced it would withdraw from ERBOCES on Aug. 15, Witt put out a cordial statement saying members occasionally choose to leave and expressing appreciation for members past and present. The effort to enforce the 2013 agreement just days before Pikes Peak was set to depart suggests ERBOCES is having trouble recruiting new members.
Córdova, in her letter to Witt on Friday, wrote, “in the absence of an eligible partner, by August 16, ERBOCES will no longer be eligible to exist as a BOCES, operate schools and programs, or receive state funding.”
She also wrote, “Recent actions from the ERBOCES board have not demonstrated the reasonable and necessary use of public funds.”
She warned the co-op not to go through with a planned $3 million loan to a Woodland Park charter school, indicating that ERBOCES does not have the legal authority to make the loan.
“We are unaware of any statutory authority for such an intergovernmental loan and see no basis for concluding that a loan for the benefit of another district’s constituents can plausibly be considered a reasonable and necessary expense of the BOCES,” Córdova wrote.
At the ERBOCES board meeting in late July, Witt sounded optimistic about recruiting new members.
He acknowledged Pikes Peak’s plan to withdraw and talked of a “live conversation” with a potential new member he didn’t name. He also talked about starting a program to pay institutions that agree to join ERBOCES.
“Because we are actively recruiting new members, and we really need some incentive beyond just participate for the dialogue, we want to offer … a stipend for member districts that choose to join,” he said.
Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.
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