Cesar Chavez Leaders Defend School Closure
COLORADO SPRINGS – The final bell for Cesar Chavez Central in Colorado Springs will ring in just a few weeks and as of right now the plan is for doors to close at the school forever.
Cesar Chavez leaders are asking permission to combine their two Springs charter schools and have both operated out of the north location. According to Chief Financial Officer Jason Guerrero the school doesn’t have the $600,000 needed to clean the Central campus of asbestos or build a new location.
Parents say they first learned of the situation in early May. They say it should never have come to this considering that the Cesar Chavez Academy network has paid it’s top executives top dollar.
In 2004 the top two paid positions were CEO Lawrence Hernandez ($99,247) and Guerrero($95,423). Both are credited with working 60 hours a week. In 2005 the totals were up to more than $190,000 and $170,000. Jump to 2007 and tax documents reveal the pair made $216,732 and $247,797 respectively. In 2007, the Chief Operating Officer Annette Hernandez made $134,826.
Parents argue that if the top executives were earning a more reasonable salary then it wouldn’t put the charter school company in the position of having to shut down the school.
“This money should go to our schools not into their pockets,” said Maurice Fejeran, an upset parent.
Mr. Hernandez says problems with the building on Union Avenue were discovered just a few months after the school opened in September of 2007. He says they’ve been up front with parents about the situation.
“If we failed to communicate the situation we apologize,” said Hernandez.
He says because of the situation no top level management took any pay from the school in 2007-08.
“We waived 100% of the management fee,” said Hernandez.
He said there were plans to expand the campus at first but because of the asbestos problem they couldn’t and that left the student enrollment short of what was expected when management drew up the plans to open the school. Less students mean less money to operate.
“We have been forthright with parents,” said Guerrero, who says the asbestos problem was not a secret. He adds that when they told the property owner of their intentions not to renew a ‘For Sale’ sign went up immediately.
As for the pay, Cesar Chavez Academy Board President Dennis Feurerstein defends the salaries.
“Mr. Hernandez is on a yearly contract,” said Feurerstein. “If he were not performing he could easily be fired.”
Leaders say that budget cuts during this tough economic stretch have come from the top down. There have been pay furloughs enacted, bonuses cut and salaries frozen.
Guerrero adds that the stated financial figures also include all the extras like state mandated retirement benefits and medicaid payments. He says the amount they take home is significantly less than the tax documents suggest.
