| Actions speak louder than words, at least that's what I believe. But the actions of Montrose County School District Board President Neisha Balleck and Vice President Ted Valerio have led to mistrust in the Montrose community. Sure, they have the support of the far right in Montrose County, but taking a page out of the play book of former and recalled Montrose County chair Scott Mijares is giving folks déjà vu. It's not a positive experience. We know that Balleck and Valerio are champing at the bit to replace the school district's current law firm Semple, Farrington, Everall & Case with the firm of Miller, Farmer and Carlson. Attorney Brad Miller is the lightning rod that has many crying for a foul. Miller has a history of using school districts to push his populist agendas, including the case against CHSAA concerning transgender males participating in female sports, the Pueblo school district public Christian charter school, amongst others. Miller is not my boogyman, but it begs to question why Balleck and Valerio believe his firm should replace the current firm. Did Semple, Farrington, Everall & Case raise their fees? Provide poor service? There's been no explanation as to why there needs to be a change and no explanation for the rush. Sometimes it's not what you do but how you do it. Balleck and Valerio get an F for their tactics with this issue. On the Jan. 13 school board meeting agenda was the item for a resolution to instruct the superintendent to send out an RFP for legal services. The meeting ran long so the issue was pushed to a special meeting on Jan 27. Of course, conspiracy theorist and Montrose's version of Peter in Peter and the Wolf, Michael Badagliacco, in his usual false diatribe in the Montrose Mirror, laid the blame for the delay on Superintendent Carrie Stephenson because presentations during the meeting lasted too long. In the Jan. 19 edition he speculated that perhaps Stephenson was concerned about her job, so she purposely allowed the presentations to go long. Nevermind that there were 28 items on the agenda and the resolution was near the bottom of the agenda. The superintendent doesn't set the agenda, the board does. I doubt Stephenson is concerned about her employment, but of course Badagliacco doesn't call out the resolution that puts an extremely short timeline on the search for a law firm. It's not surprising that Badagliacco gave the audience a lecture at the Feb. 10 meeting that their behavior – in his words – was disgusting. That's what the grownups who were using their free speech rights needed that night, a lecture from the county's favorite grumpy old man – move over Dee Laird, you have competition. Between the rushed resolution, Badagliacco's speculative diatribes, and a couple of board members trying to run roughshod over other board members, I sure am feeling like it's 2025 and we're back with the Mijares-Pond regime at the Montrose BOCC. It wasn't difficult to predict where Balleck and Valerio would fall on this matter, or board members Tom West and Jody Hovde. Board member Scott Scarborough is all over the place and his cries to get to a classical education needs to be explained. Is he confused with the schools within the district and the upcoming Montrose Classical Academy? Does he think Miller is going to lead the district there? What's the connection between the legal firm representing the district and academics? Badagliacco during his lecture cited that when Montezuma school district hired Miller their test scores rose by 30%, but we've seen Badagliacco's fuzzy math before; verify before trusting. During board discussion Scarborough pointed out to Badagliacco that he appreciated the heads up on Montezuma scores. One issue with Badagliacco's point is that Montrose scores higher than Montezuma. Scarborough needs to do his own research. Personally, I'm frustrated with Scarborough's notion that Montrose students are graduating at a fourth grade level education. He needs to get out more and meet these graduates. If he does he'll realize there's a ton of talent that MCSD is sending out to the world. The youngest members of the board, Tiffany Vincent and Shane Daly, have been a pleasant surprise. They were placed with Scarborough and Balleck as the conservative slate during the election, with all four endorsed by the Republican Central Committee, giving us the impression that the four, along with Valerio, would be tied at the hip in their votes. But twice now the two have pulled in the reins on Balleck and Valerio. The first meeting the new board was seated in December was when Balleck tried to make a quick decision for Vista Charter to move to Colorado Charter School Institute. It was Vincent during discussion after the first motion who said she needed more time to make a decision, Daly concurred. The motion died. Valerio deserves credit for voting for the delay. At the Jan. 13 meeting, after some time to dissect and an impressive presentation by CSI, the board ultimately decided to move Vista to CSI. Honestly, after discussions with former Vista board members and the presentation at that meeting, I would have voted for the move too. It felt MCSD and Vista were at a place of irreconcilable differences. Digging into Vista, they need a lot of guidance, so hopefully they get it. The attorney issue is different. If Balleck and Valerio believe that the election was a mandate for them to push populist ideals in regards to cultural issues, they are mistaken. While these issues are top of mind of the far right, the election was more about a referendum on how the previous board handled Montrose Classical Academy; as Valero has pointed out, the Colorado State Education Board, that is a Democrat majority by 6-3, reversed the MCSD board ruling declining the charter. The other issues that were a major factor was the new Montrose High School ballot issue and yes, test scores. Despite Badagliacco's nonsense that Miller affects test scores, a law firm's responsibility is to advise and assist the board and district to navigate the law and represent them in litigation. They don't set policy or curriculum. Again, why make a change? Now that the decision isn't rushed — thanks again to Vincent and Daly — each board member has time to review all of the proposals. If you would like to see them for yourself go to the board docs at MCSD.org and take a look. Hopefully all seven board members will take a deep dive and the best decision is made. Balleck and Valerio are going to need to give a better argument to the community than 'this is what this board was elected to do' or discrediting community members who are uncomfortable with Miller's track record. While a higher percentage of voters in Montrose County vote conservative, most of those voters are pragmatic and deserve a logical explanation. We're only at the start of this ride with the new board, so hang on tight. Dennis Anderson is publisher of the Montrose Daily Press and Delta County Independent. | 
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