The current Denver school board is so inept and dysfunctional they spent thousands of taxpayer dollars over the last year to undergo therapy and learn how to get along.
Clearly, it’s not working.
Don’t get us wrong, we believe in the benefits of therapy.
But using taxpayer dollars to adjust the mental health of an entire school board that was elected at the behest of the teachers’ union that claimed these people were the most qualified for the job is just, too extra.
The Denver Post reports the board spent more than $43,000 in the last year on mediators to referee their petty spats and power plays, which erupted again at the last meeting, proving it was a waste of time and our money.
The elected school board has hired at least four consultants to conduct mediation and conflict resolution sessions over the last year, including at two retreats last summer. School boards often hold retreats to work on team building, but transactions reviewed by The Post showed directors also have worked with a therapist since August.
Licensed psychotherapist Taña Quintana-Price is actually present for school board meetings, but the school board refused to explain to the Post what exactly she’s doing for them at meetings, her role, what services she provides, or why she was hired.
Spending our taxpayer dollars, the board laughably claims, is privileged information.
Denver Public Schools Vice President Auon’tai “Tay” Anderson, who is most likely the board member who blabbed about all the therapy sessions, told the Post that Quintana-Price has been “a very helpful presence in very trying conversations.”
Doesn’t look like it.
This isn’t about shaming anyone for undergoing mental health services or one board member’s personal problems.
It’s about rising above one’s own selfish political ambitions to be a dedicated public servant and do the job one ran, and was elected to do, without having to hire consultants to mediate every time a board member throws a hissy fit.
If the job is a burden on one’s mental health, one might consider another line of work in the private sector. This should not be the taxpayers’ problem.
