Photos by Derrick Brubacher Shannon and John Murphy exercise their freedom of expression as they help man a picket line outside the Moffat school. The line was made up of students, parents, and a few teachers.

Moffat school controversy continues



By JULIA WILSON

MOFFAT — Everyone attending the Moffat school board meeting had to pass through a picket line manned by students and parents before they could enter the school building Monday night.

The controversy pitting Superintendent Charles Warren and the Board of Education against parents, teachers and students is a result of the superintendent and board’s efforts to remove Principal Michelle Hashbarger and bring in a new principal.

The issue intensified after the October school board meeting. Parents, students and teachers spoke for approximately two hours in favor of Hashbarger while expressing dismay at the perceived unfairness of her removal by Warren. When the crowd of people left, the board raised Warren’s salary to $85,000 a year and increased his contract to two years.

Feeling ignored by the board and the superintendent, parents have been getting letters of “no confidence” signed by community and are threatening to have the entire Moffat Board of Education re-called.

Teachers have become more outspoken about their support of Harshbarger, and have asked for policy changes so they can bring grievances that are not satisfactorily addressed at a lower level directly to the board. The current policy is a grievance goes first to the principal, who takes it to the superintendent. The superintendent then decides whether the grievance is presented to the Board of Education.

In a show of support and representing all the teachers in the valley, Greg McQuade, program director of the Colorado Education Association, attended the Monday night meeting. He passed out cards to the board and spoke privately with teachers attending the meeting.

Kristy Murphy received a standing ovation when she took the board to task for not representing their stakeholders, which she defined as the parents, teachers, and students. She said she hoped they would take back Warren’s new two year contract and the large raise.

Amanda Pearson also spoke to the board. She said she was upset at the effect the controversy was having on the students and wants the school to do what it is supposed to do: teach the students.

“If that means Michelle (Hashbarger) and Warren both go I don’t care,” Pearson said.

Another parent said they were upset that mediation was never used to fix the problem between Hashbarger and Warren.

“This is mind blowing that in this day and age we have to go through this Draconian and Machiavellian situation,” Mark Jacobi said. “Morale is in the toilet.”

Both Warren and Hashbarger declined to comment.

During the meeting the board announced the upcoming Colorado Association of School Board annual convention at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs.

“Tools for Tangible Change-Empowering Your Board Team” is the theme for the convention.

Boards of education in Colorado are facing unprecedented fiscal challenges,” Bill Bregar, president of CASB writes on the groups web site (CASB.org). “The implications are far-reaching. Employee salary and benefits, construction needs and basic supplies are all pressure points--not to mention the impact on the quality of education for students.”

There is still one position on the Moffat Board of Education that has not been filled. Board president Linda Sage Godfrey said she could not give a final date for applications to be submitted to fill the at-large position, and she did not know how many, if any, applications had been received.