Opinion: Platte Canyon School District violates school policy for the bidding process on Rosalie.
- pcbeacon
- Apr 17, 2023
- 3 min read
There has been much chattering in the Bailey Colorado in reference to the sale of the 599 Rosalie property by the Platte Canyon School District. This property has been used by the community of Bailey for close to two decades as a park, disc golf course and a general recreation area. The sale of the property has activated the community to come together and push to keep the residential zoned property open as a park.
On April 11, 2023 the bidding process was opened to the public. See RFP 23-01P:
Included in the proposal is this statement under Section 1 "All proposals will be reviewed by a selection committee appointed by the Owner."
In CRS 22-32-110 the powers that are enumerated to the school board include 1(e) "To sell and convey district property which may not be needed within the foreseeable future for any purpose authorized by law, upon such terms and conditions as it may approve;...." Therefore it appears that the only entity to sell this property is the school board. The Board policy is silent on who is to sell/convey property yet the district policy does reference CRS 22-32-110. See board Policy BBA:
I was interested on serving on the selection committee and put in a request to learn how a citizen might volunteer for the committee. Board Policy on Advisory Committees (BDF):
I emailed Mr. Schmidt today regarding my interest in serving and this was his response:
Good afternoon, Thank you for your interest in being on the selection committee which is outlined in the Bid Proposal process. Mr. Genschorck and I have decided to keep the committee small and it will consist of two Board members (Mr. Genschorck and Mr. VanDeHey), Matt Flores, Ashley Stephen, and myself. Thanks again for your willingness to serve the District in this manner. MS
Mike Schmidt Superintendent/Principal, Platte Canyon High School Platte Canyon School District No. 1 57393 US Highway 285, PO Box 1069 Bailey, CO 80421 303-838-7666 (ext:1603) Direct Line: 303-679-7411
Here is the issue, all boards must work publicly. I have attended almost every board meeting since May 2015 and haven't missed one this year. No board meeting has covered this committee, the appointment of the committee, and/or granting individual board authority to act or for the Superintendent to act on the Board's behalf.
According to Policy BBA: "All powers of the Board lie in its action as a group. Individual Board members exercise authority only as they vote at a legal meeting of the Board and when the Board has lawfully delegated authority to them."
So here are some questions:
Who authorized Mr. Schmidt to make board decisions?
When did the board authorize Mr. Genschorck to make individual decisions on the board's behalf?
When was the board meeting that appointed this committee?
Honestly, I knew I would not be appointed to any school board committee. However, I did think that there would be at least one or two citizen appointees with some expertise in the areas of finance or real estate to weigh in on this sale. I would think that with the failed bonds the past two years they might want to create some community involvement.
I was shocked to see that the committee has already been selected without any authorization from the board. If the board did approve this, it certainly was NOT in a public meeting!
In my opinion: at its best this is the district not following its own policy or bidding process; at it's worst this is a complete violation of Sunshine Laws.
Let the board know your opinion of this decision:
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