Early on in her tenure, Montrose County School District Board of Education President Neisha Balleck made it clear that she was to be addressed as Madam President. She would have been fine with being called Neisha, but, you know, Roberts Rule of Order just won’t permit it. Madam President is making it clear that there are boundaries between her and the rest who are fortunate enough to be in her presence. One person who appears to be less fortunate is MCSD Superintendent Dr. Carrie Stephenson. Stephenson drew the ire of Balleck long before she was school board president. Now, Balleck can impose her will on Stephenson, or so she thinks. She can’t, at least not as an individual board member. She is one of seven on the board and as a whole they get to direct Stephenson and staff. Madam President gets to lead the meetings. She has a gavel and she’s not afraid to use it if you start causing trouble — even Good Trouble. We’ve seen this play out before in Montrose. It’s still fresh in our memories. Recalled County Commissioner Scott Mijares didn’t like that the previous board hired Frank Rodriguez as county manager before he was to take his seat as commissioner. He and his buddy, Sean Pond, removed Sue Hansen as board chair, naming Mijares to that position and Pond to vice chair, and the gloves were off. Mijares in particular pushed Rodriguez to the brink of what he could handle, until Rodriguez was forced to resign. It appears Stephenson will take a different approach. She’s going to fight. At an impromptu special board meeting Tuesday evening called to visit for a second time placing Stephenson on a non-punitive paid leave — or what we regular folks call a suspension — Dr. Stephenson requested a public meeting instead of executive session. The meeting room was packed, with overflow. No public comment was allowed. Stephenson, when it was her time, spoke, and boy did she ever do so for over 20 minutes. She had a lot to unburden from her heart as she has, from the time this new board has been seated, been raked over the coals. Stephenson has a target on her back and Madam President, along with her sidekick Vice President Ted Valerio, are fighting over the bow and quiver full of arrows. Stephenson invoked her late father, Walt Burke, in her speech. Burke was the owner of True Value on the corner of Park Avenue and Main Street in Montrose. Burke could be seen regularly sitting on one of his park bench displays on the sidewalk in front of his store, smoking a stogie and holding court. Stephenson’s gumption doesn’t fall far from the tree. Perhaps other than board member Scott Scarborough, the board doesn’t know the stock from which Stephenson came. Now, they’ve received a glimpse. Stephenson is embroiled in an investigation by a third party investigator who is looking into allegations against former Olathe Elementary Principal Jennifer Hesse, who herself was placed on paid leave back in April. She is the focus of allegations submitted by her employees. She has since resigned. That warranted a suspension pending the investigation's outcome. Placing Stephenson on leave because there may have been some procedural issues or allegations that Stephenson was playing favorites by not acting soon enough is not appropriate. Keep in mind it was Stephenson who suggested the investigation. Board members Shane Daly and Tiffany Vincent stated in the first meeting that the level of charges against Stephenson didn’t warrant a suspension. They voted against the agenda item back in April, along with board members Tom West and Jody Hodve. How did Scarborough vote? Well let’s just say Scarborough, who sits to the left of Daly on the dais, should switch seats with him so he can sit next to Valerio and Balleck. It would make it more convenient to get his cues. He should also wear a t-shirt with a big thumb pointing right stating “I vote with them!” Scarborough, during the first attempt at suspending Stephenson, invoked his experience watching detective shows, stating that when there’s an internal investigation the subject of the investigation is placed on leave. Was he expecting Stephenson to turn in her badge and service revolver? Am I in a bizarre episode of Starsky and Hutch? Where are my bell bottoms? It’s so obvious that Balleck believes she has Scarborough in the bag. When he voted a garbled “yea” instead of the standard “aye,” causing half the room to misunderstand it as “nay,” Balleck appeared surprised, flummoxed, and cross, until Scarborough affirmed he’d voted correctly and the motion was safe. I wonder if he apologized later to Madam President for the awkward confusion. Vincent flipped her vote concerning placing the superintendent on leave from the previous meeting. This is interesting, especially in light of her husband’s online remarks on the subject. Vincent’s husband Chris, who goes by the handle vinnychris on Facebook, took to the comment section of the Montrose Daily Press story previewing the Tuesday night meeting. Here’s what he had to say: “She's a Doctor of Narcissism, 'skeletons in the closet' indeed, hope the truth comes to light.” I commented that he wasn’t making it easy on his wife, referring to the optics his comment created, to which he replied, “thanks for the advice I didn’t ask for.” He later messaged me and said “Dennis, because we are 'friendly,' here’s some insight why I dislike Carrie so much….. I would prefer my property taxes pay someone less divisive.” He shared a screenshot that Stephenson allegedly posted on Instagram back in 2024 that stated, “not all Trump supporters are racist but they all decided racism wasn’t a deal breaker.” He went on to state, “She probably deleted it but as you know the internet doesn’t forget and neither do I.” Now that’s a grudge. Did Vincent’s feelings towards Stephenson taint his wife’s vote? It feels like it. The first time this came before the board she wrestled with her decision before voting no. This time she lobbied for it, citing protecting the investigation. Accusations against Stephenson leave me with more questions than answers. Stephenson laid out examples to show Balleck believes and acts like she is Stephenson’s direct supervisor. Giving her direct instructions on tasks she wanted Stephenson to perform. As the kids say, “you-can’t-do-that!” As Stephenson stated during her speech, she works for the board as a whole and other than Valerio it wouldn’t be surprising that the rest of the board had no idea. A member of the OES staff who I've known for sometime reached out to me to let me know that they were at the meeting in question that led to Balleck making the second attempt at placing Stephenson on suspension. Their recount of the meeting is positive. They appreciated that Stephenson engaged staff to get their input for hiring the next principal. Stephenson asked staff to write down what they would be looking for in a new principal. She empowered the staff to look within as well for how they could change the atmosphere at OES. Stephenson told the staff that their questions would be forwarded to the hiring committee. She acknowledged that the last two principals have a mark on their careers, but didn’t imply that it was because of staff. They also noted that during the school year they saw Stephenson at OES for what seemed like monthly visits. In no way did this person feel intimidated and appreciated being heard. The other issue here is Balleck has inserted herself as the point person for the investigation. Hovde stated she didn’t know who the investigator was until the morning of the latest meeting and had no contact with her. Stephenson said the same thing. Valerio indicated that the investigator is well qualified, so he knew. That locomotive you hear is the sound of Stephenson getting railroaded. The only board member outside of Hovde and West to see it was Daly, who voted against the suspension. Madam President, I have my hand raised to ask a question. Does the largest employer in Montrose County not have an HR director? Why are they not the point of contact for the investigator? This situation is getting more bizarre by the day and for Valerio or Balleck to not recognize that this situation stinks to high heaven then it’s fair to question their motives and actions. As Stephenson stated her dad would say: “If something doesn’t sit right, there’s usually a reason.” This situation doesn’t sit right and anyone watching this unfold with an unbiased eye knows the reason. Dennis Anderson is publisher of the Montrose Daily Press and Delta County Independent. |
![Superintendent Dr. Carrie Stephenson's full remarks to the MCSD school board [FULL TEXT]](https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/montrosepress.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/b/77/b77bbd7c-5809-4f24-bc00-92a0c9da53aa/6a21b266b70b4.image.png?resize=300%2C300)
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