Judge Denies Restraining Order Filed by Brighton Collegiate High School Against Brighton School District 27J

By Don Thompson

District Court Judge Katherine Delgado dismissed a temporary restraining order filed against Brighton School District 27J citing Jurisdictional issues. Attorney Barry Arrington representing Brighton Collegiate High School, a Colorado Charter School, said that according to the Colorado Charter School Act the school was a legal separate entity, even though it was a public school in the district, and as such Brighton School District 27J had no authority over the school. Brighton Collegiate’s position is that based on legislation and Colorado State Supreme court actions the jurisdiction of charter schools is split and that the court has jurisdiction in this matter and can issue a restraining order.

Attorney David Olsen, representing the Brighton 27J School District, argued that based on the same information Brighton Collegiate was required to go to the Colorado State Board of Education to resolve the issue of whether 27J could step in or not. Judge Delgado recessed the court and reviewed both the Act and the contract between the district and Brighton Collegiate. After reviewing the information supplied she found that the court did not have jurisdiction and therefore could not issue a restraining order.

Mr. Arrington then stated that the contract between the district and the school regarding the facilities was in the judges’ jurisdiction and that a restraining order could be issued to keep the district from coming on the property and taking over the school. He also stated that the matter that created the issue in the first place had been resolved and that there was no need for the district to be on the property.

Mr. Olsen argued that in fact the matter had not been resolved and the district needed to investigate further for the safety of the children and find a way to stop this continuing type of behavior from happening again. Mr. Arrington stated that a teacher texting a student was not a sexual or a safety issue but a case of poor judgment by a teacher who had been dismissed by the school.

The Brighton Police department and Adams County District Attorneys office have been investigating the actions of the teacher and the allegations may include inappropriate touching and kissing although Mr. Arrington stated that he understood that the student involved denied that this had occurred.

Mr. Arrington added that the district had already taken action to take over the school by firing the principal, Kirk Salmela, which the district denied. Mr. Salmela testified on behalf of Brighton Collegiate and when asked if he had been fired he said that he had not.

Judge Delgado asked the district if there had been a decision by the district at the board meeting to revoke the charter for the school. 27J School District attorney David Olsen responded that the school board had not, that they were exercising their option to manage the school for 90 days while they looked into the allegations of sexual misconduct as had been agreed to in a contract after the other sexual misconduct issues two years ago. The district emphasized again that their only purpose for stepping in was for the safety of the children.

After further testimony Judge Delgado again denied the request for a restraining Order and that Brighton Collegiate would have to go to the State Board of Education concerning this matter.

The attorney for Brighton Collegiate asked the district if he submitted a bill would the district pay it as they were now in control of the charter school and the answer was a firm no.

After the hearing Dr. Rod Blunck was asked what the next step would be. He said that he will go forward based on the actions taken by the 27J District School Board at the last meeting. The board directed him to verify that the kids at the school will be safe and that “hope” is not a satisfactory barometer when it comes to safety of the kids. He was asked if he had fired anybody and he answered with a firm no and added that he felt it was a blatant fallacy. There had been a comment made about the police being called out when the district went to the school and he stated that the only police there was the School Resource Officer there for his regular shift and there had been no other police involvement while 27J staff were at Brighton Collegiate.

David Olsen, Attorney for the 27J School District, was asked what the next possible step for Brighton Collegiate and he advised that they could file an appeal with the State Board of Education.