UPDATE: D-49 Board Member Reposinds To Transcripts

By Tak Landrockt.lanrock@krdo.comwww.twitter.com/taklandrock

FALCON – The D-49 School Board recently released transcripts from two executive session meetings held in February. In those closed-door meetings, the board was discussing how to trim the budget, but at the same time called a faculty member “stupid” and discussed ways to skirt equal pay laws.

The twotranscripts were released after the district was sued under the Colorado Open Records Act.

Many times the name of the speaker is left out because he or she is unidentifiable.

In one part, board member Dave Stark is quoted criticizing a staff member’s wife who also works for the district. He calls her, “his stupid wife.”

Board member Kent Clawson tells Stark,”I don’t think it’s nice to call his wife stupid.”

The conversation moves on, without Stark every saying sorry or apologizing from hiscomment.

The board then talks about a study done in October concerning equal pay. Eric Paugh, who was the acting superintendent at the time, discusses bringing a female employee’s pay “up to par with surrounding districts.”

After discussions about how much that would cost D-49, board member Mark Shook says, “Instead of moving all these people up, I say we move everybody else down and we’ll achieve parity that way.” Shooks say he was joking about the “other employees in the survey”who work for other districts, not D-49.

The discussion moves on with Shook saying, “Don’t raise up the ones that have been taken advantage of. Bring everybody elsedown to that level.”in the tapes, released a day after this story, you can hear the board laughing and joking around.

Then board member Anna Bartha says, “Screw everybody. Might as well.” Shook tells me in an e-mail, “Anna’s ‘screw everybody’ mocking reply was directed at me, not the employees.”

When the conversation turns to health care Bartha asks why costs are going up faster than inflation. Bartha asks who covers the extra cost?A faculty member tells Bartha the district pays some of the extra cost, but if there were no pay raises, the district would cover the increase.

Bartha responds, “You know what, if my husband has to go through it, dang it, everyone else should.” Again, Shook says Bartha pounded the table as she made the comment in a self- mocking humor.”It was obvious she was kidding,” says Shook.

Shook says in a later public meeting the board voted 5-0 toapprove the health benefit increase.The vote means the district would pick up the rising cost of employees health care insurace.

If you would like to read the entire transcripts, click below.