Another mess cleaned up by reformers

Back on September 12, 2006, I wrote about the unbelievable amount of public funds that D11 staff spent on hiring “purple packet” employees. These were simply people who were often friends of administrators who would be placed on the D11 payroll with no job descriptions, no work plan, and no supervision. From July 1st, 2005 through the end of November 2005, the Sharon Thomas administration had spent around $2 million on purple packet hires and had hired 216 purple packet employees.

The practice of purple packet hiring had been taking place in D11 for years. Board members such as Mary Ellen McNally, Lynn Peterson, Lyman Kaiser, Karen Teja, and Bruce Doyle turned a blind eye to this practice. Accountability was not something that these people were willing to stomach, especially if you stood to benefit from the D11 cash cow yourself, such as did Teja. Was the purple packet hiring just a way for administrators to reward friends and colleagues with public funds, or was that just a bunch of noise by overly suspicious board members. The following letter was received shortly after the board learned that ex-CFO Bob Moore had been paid around $10,000 for a month's work as some sort of liaison to the local military bases. Keep in mind that Moore spent 2 years in the Coast Guard.

August 22, 2005

Dear Colorado Springs District 11 Board Members,

I watched the August 17 school board meeting with much interest. As a prior district employee who has friends and contacts in the administration building I was surprised to hear the dialog regarding Mr. Moore’s presence in the district. Two weeks ago when I read the newspaper that he was back at the district working as a consultant I called one
of my friends. Contrary to what Mr. Gustafson and the new superintendent stated, Mr. Moore had returned so he would be eligible to purchase years of service from PERA. I found out that PERA’s rules to purchase years of service require you to be an employee and after November 1 the cost to purchase years of service will be extremely expensive. So it was basically find some work for Mr. Moore to do, so we can help him out to buy years f service from PERA. He told my friend that he took a leave from his job to come here so he could do this.

What is disappointing is that many in the administration building knew why Mr. Moore was there yet the new superintendent stated in so many words that he was the only person who could have done the work that he did. Also, disappointing is the praise given by two board members (Ms. Teja and Mr. Breazell) on what an excellent job Mr. Gustafson did by bringing Mr. Moore in to do the research. Mr. Cox was right on when he suspected cronyism. There are so many military people in this city the District did not have to bring someone in from Detroit, who has not worked in this town for many years and who’s last connection with the military was over 20 years ago. Come on board members wake up!


I hope you understand, but I chose to remain anonymous due to my friendships in the district.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter.

The Gazette reported on the lavish and uncontrolled purple packet spending after I brought the issue forward. In February of 2006, D11 attorneys from HRO informed the board that the uncontrolled purple packet spending would be brought under control. Human Resource director Dave Schenkel, who was directly responsible for overseeing this purple packet spending spree, was forced to take action to curb this waste.

The following figures came from D11 and show how the effort of the reformers has brought the purple packet spending under better control.


NAME POSITION LOCATION CONTRACT AMOUNT


JULY 1, 2006 PURPLE PACKET INFO
Lavonne Jill Adler 26022 Literacy Program Hunt Elem Adult Ed 8.33/hour
Kate V. Bridgeman 16170 ESL Teacher Literacy Program Hunt Elem Adult Ed 22.87/hour


AUGUST 1, 2006 PURPLE PACKET INFO
Alisha Eddy 14357 Volleyball Coach/Bookkeeper Wasson 87.60/hour
Jamie Hardrick 26148 Asst Coach Cheerleading Palmer HS 58.00/SEASON
Judy Lynn Hertel 26191 Teacher Assistant Adult Ed 8.00/8.77/hour


SEPTEMBER 1, 2006 PURPLE PACKET INFO
Josephine Longfellow-LeBrasse 14086 Asst. Principal Doherty HS 40.99/hour
Janet L. Emmons 13161 Admin Asst. Freedom & McAuliff Elem Schools 13.90/hour
Yubia Bonilla 26240 Educational Assistant - Adult Ed 8.77/hour
Samuel E. Boatman 26231 Site Supervisor Community Ed $18.00/hour
Tara Shaw 23089 Teacher Adult Ed 80.00/day


OCTOBER 1, 2006 PURPLE PACKET INFO
Elena D. Velez Educational Assistant Adult Ed Family Literacy 9.00/hour


NOVEMBER 1, 2006 PURPLE PACKET INFO
Emma Rachel Epstein Educational Assistant Adult Ed Family Literacy 9.00/hour
Mark R. Miller Clerical Curriculum 15.00/hour
Barbara S. Day Project Manager Site Based Superintendents Office 50,000 annual-part time
Diana Lynn Valdez Health Assistant Carver Elem 9.00/hour

Quite a change in one year. Amazing what a little oversight will accomplish.

There is one point of interest here. Barbara Day was hired as a part time consultant for $50,000. Day was a longtime friend of Dr. Bishop. It is not clear what, if any, site based background she possesses. During the discussion of hiring a site based consultant, Sandra Mann led the charge against a consultant, claiming that a project manager could be hired part time for only $25,000. Mann and her non-too-alert colleagues on the board never said a word when Day was given $50,000 for a part time, 9-month job. I guess the moment for political posturing had past.