Molly for CO Kids

🚨 Leadership Isn’t About Marketing. It’s About Reality. 🚨
I just received this political flyer in the mail from Cherry Creek School Board member Angela Garland, who is currently running for Arapahoe County Commissioner while still having 18 months left in her school board term. The mailer boldly claims she "delivered results" and "protected taxpayer dollars." Ummmmm, NOT!

Thanks, but we aren’t buying it. Let’s look past the slick campaign lingo and talk about the actual reality of her tenure and the dismal results for our students, teachers, and community:

📉 A $23 Million Deficit: Under her watch and governance as Board President, Cherry Creek Schools plunged into a massive $23 million budget crisis.
💔 Frontline Staff Bearing the Brunt: Because of these severe budget shortfalls, dedicated teachers and staff are facing job insecurity, while frontline workers like our paraprofessionals are watching their take-home pay drop below zero due to skyrocketing 20% healthcare hikes.
⚠️ Executive Incompetence & Scandals: Her tenure leading the board was defined by a series of severe internal administrative crises, compliance failures, and executive mismanagement that leadership consistently chose to sweep under the rug rather than address transparently.
💰 Campaign Finance Issues: Reports show she has accrued over $100k in fines for campaign finance violations related to failing to properly report contributions and expenditures. If a public official faces this level of scrutiny over managing their own campaign finances, how can taxpayers trust them to oversee a massive county budget?

Our community cannot afford to have this track record of financial deficits and institutional mismanagement imported into Arapahoe County government.
When Angela Garland claims she “protected taxpayer dollars," it flies in the face of the facts. All we have to do is look at the classrooms, the students, and the employees she left holding the bill. Our community deserves true fiscal accountability, genuine transparency, and leaders who prioritize the public interest over their next political ladder.

Do NOT reward this record of financial mismanagement and unethical behavior.

Do NOT vote for Angela Garland for Arapahoe County Commissioner.

Just in case you (aka the folks footing the bill) wanted to know what Rebecca Lopez was making, I have attached her contract for your review. I have also CORA’d the separation agreement and so far the response has been: “None.”
I’ll keep trying and let you know the results.

🚨 Look at the new DISTRICT-WIDE initiative…WE ARE ASKING TOO MUCH OF OUR TEACHERS! 😱

There is a massive disconnect between the quiet offices of our district administration and the loud reality inside our classrooms.
Right now, our school district is facing a major staffing crisis. We just watched the administration lay off 159 frontline workers—including 51 critical special education roles and vital classroom support staff. These paraprofessionals and aides are the exact people who help manage student behavior, provide extra attention to kids who need it, and keep classrooms running smoothly.
But the cuts didn't stop the behavioral challenges from walking through the door.
Instead, our teachers are being left to handle these complex situations entirely alone. To make matters worse, internal documents like the recent district-wide training: "Discipline Mindset Shifts" are actively stripping teachers of clear, predictable tools to maintain order. They are being told that standard consequences are the wrong approach, and that bad behavior is simply "communication" they need to decipher while trying to teach a lesson to 25 other children.

Let's be completely honest about what we are doing to our educators:
•We cut their classroom support staff.
•We tie their hands when it comes to student accountability.
•Then, we expect them to magically produce top-tier academic results while managing chaotic environments completely by themselves.
•And on top of all of that we are spiking their health insurance by at least 20% and only giving them a 1.25% raise.

It is entirely unfair, unrealistic and it is driving incredible burnout across our schools. We cannot expect student excellence if we refuse to protect the working environment of the people teaching them.

Our teachers do not need more top-down initiatives or corporate training flyers. They need administrative backing, they need real consequences in the code of conduct, and they need their support staff put back in the classrooms.

To every educator and staff member handling the pressure right now: Thank you for pushing through. Our community needs to start standing up for you, because the leadership at the top has left you on an island. Please DM me if you have something to share. You will always remain anonymous.

🏝️✈️The Contrast Speaks Volumes: Luxury Trips vs. Negative Paychecks 💸

Last night at the CCSD Board of Education meeting, the CFO laid out a grim budget detailing a $23 million deficit, looming staff layoffs, and a tiny 1.25% cost-of-living adjustment for our hardworking staff. But the real crisis is in the fine print: skyrocketing healthcare premiums mean that for many employees, their actual take-home pay is going down.

For our critical, lowest-paid hourly staff—like our paraprofessionals—the math is even more devastating. The healthcare cost increase completely wipes out the tiny raise, to the point where some part-time staff will actually owe money back to the district just to maintain their health benefits. They are literally paying out of pocket to work here. 😱

Yet, while this bleak financial reality was presented, the Interim Superintendent took the microphone to cheerfully announce how excited she is for her upcoming luxury trip to Greece. ✈️

After everything this community has endured with former leadership treating public funds like a personal travel agency, this level of tone-deaf disconnect is staggering. Our frontline educators and paras are facing negative paychecks, while the priority at the podium is celebrating a Mediterranean vacation. 😳

This is exactly why summer break doesn't mean a break from accountability. The culture at the top of Cherry Creek Schools is entirely detached from the economic reality of the classrooms and the taxpayers funding them. We are going to keep digging into the budget, demanding CORA compliance, and fighting to ensure resources go to supporting staff—not administrative tone-deafness. UNREAL!

🎉A Massive Victory for CCSD!! REBECCA LOPEZ IS GONE! 🎉

For months, parents, teachers and staff have been blowing the whistle on a deeply toxic, abusive, and unsupportive culture at the very top of the district's administration. Today, the official Board of Education Personnel Action Report confirms the news the community has been praying for: Rebecca Lopez, Director of Neurodiverse Student Services and wife of the “also gone and disgraced” Tony Poole, is officially separating from the district effective June 30th! It is long overdue, but a victory all the same!

To the families who felt completely ignored and the teachers and staff who went through absolute stress due to this one person…this victory is yours. For years, this department has caused heartbreak and drama.

When leadership fails our most vulnerable students and creates a hostile workplace for the staff trying to teach them, they've gotta go. Her exit is a massive turning point for a department that desperately needs a fresh start! What a relief!

ONWARD!!!

💩📺 Threatening Letters, Lawsuits, and the Soap Opera Unfolding at CCSD 📺 💩

The drama and the toxic environment continue at Cherry Creek Schools. According to a recent Denver7 investigation that aired last night, the district’s attorneys have now sent a Cease-and-Desist letter to Chris and Brenda Smith. Even though they are no longer employed here, our district is still tangled up dealing with the aftermath of their leadership. 🥴

If we want to talk about true accountability, we have to look at how we got into this mess—and how we are going to get out of it. At the very least, two key members of the current leadership team need to be held accountable for negotiating these separation agreements and approving the massive payouts:

• Scott Smith (CFO): The Chief Financial Officer responsible for overseeing the district's budget and cutting the checks—who has also been formally accused of bullying, intimidation, and threatening behavior toward our principals.

• Sonja McKenzie (General Legal Counsel): The top attorney responsible for drafting and legalizing these taxpayer-funded exit packages—and whose department is responsible for producing incomplete public record requests in violation of Colorado Sunshine Laws.

It is easy for the district to act tough by issuing a cease-and-desist now, but where was this energy when they were structuring these deals behind closed doors? The primary bad actors might have left the building, but the administrators who enabled the toxic environment and managed the money are still running the show.

True transparency means holding everyone accountable—not just the ones who resigned! 🛑

💻 You need to watch and read this full story to see how deep this goes:

https://www.denver7.com/news/investigations/cherry-creek-schools-attorneys-send-cease-and-desist-to-former-superintendent-wife

🚨 SHOW UP FOR OUR SCHOOLS
The next school board meeting is this Monday night at 7:00 PM at Liberty Middle School.

Show up. Our students, our teachers, and our principals deserve our support and a safe, transparent environment. Let's make our voices heard.

🚨 The Culture of Intimidation Continues at Cherry Creek Schools…
the CFO MUST GO! 🚨

We might have thought things would change when former leadership moved on, but these newly uncovered documents prove that the toxic culture and financial mismanagement run deep.

A formal memo from Cherry Creek High School Principal Ryan Silva details a disturbing pattern of behavior by CFO/COO Scott Smith. The documents outline serious allegations of a Hostile Work Environment, Abuse of Power, and Incompetent Management of Financial Resources.

😡Why Should Our Kids Pay for Mismanagement?😱
According to the memo, Scott Smith’s financial decisions have directly impacted our schools and students:
•Over Budget: Phase 1 of the CCHS rebuild project went $20 million over budget.😳
•Reducing the temperatures in the high school swimming pools to save money!🥶
•Threats to Staffing: When the community raised concerns about changes to school pool temperatures, Smith allegedly threatened to cut multiple teaching positions (FTE reductions) in retaliation. 😱
•Withholding Resources: The memo details threats to withhold voter-approved bond project funding from schools if administrators questioned his authority. 😡
•Silencing Students: In November 2025, a group of AP Environmental Science students spoke to a reporter about eco-friendly building designs. The memo states the reporter dropped the story because they were threatened by Scott Smith. 🤷‍♀️

🛑 No More Sweeping It Under the Rug!!
When Principal Silva stood up for his staff, students, and community, how did legal counsel Sonja McKenzie handle it? A phone call and a closed-door meeting to "repair and restore the professional relationship." Shaking hands behind closed doors is not accountability—it is a blatant attempt to sweep bullying and intimidation under the rug.

Our principals should be praised for sticking up for our kids, not subjected to a hostile work environment and forced mediation.

Scott Smith needs to be held publicly accountable. We cannot tolerate a culture where taxpayer funds are mismanaged and district leaders use intimidation to silence students and staff. Our children deserve better and we must protect our principals and staff! ENOUGH!

🚨 STILL PAYING CHRIS SMITH UNTIL 2027?! 😱😳 The Reality of the Cherry Creek Payout

Let this sink in: Even though former Superintendent Christopher Smith left the district in January 2026 following a massive contracting scandal, taxpayers could still be paying his salary all the way through JUNE 2027. 😱 A newly surfaced Notice of Claim reveals that behind closed doors, Smith was allegedly promised a massive financial cushion to step down quietly. Now, he is legally demanding that the district honor that secret deal.

Let’s look at the math and what this costs our classrooms:
Smith’s legal team is demanding a base salary payout of $332,601.15 to cover his contract through June 2027, plus a $30,000 stipend, an unpaid leave cash-out, and district-paid life insurance until he turns 65.

With the average Cherry Creek teacher salary sitting at roughly $90,000, that 2027 payout represents:

🍎 Nearly 4 full-time teacher positions that could be funded right now.
✏️ Or the starting salary ($61,058) for 5.5 brand-new educators in our schools.

The Double Standard:
The independent investigation exposed severe policy violations and favoritism toward vendor Education Accelerated. Based on those findings, the Board of Education officially fired Smith's wife, Brenda Smith (the former Chief HR Officer), for cause—giving her zero additional benefits.

So why is Christopher Smith claiming he was promised a secret golden parachute lasting into 2027? Why are public funds being used to reward an executive whose departure was tied to the exact same investigation?

Our community needs to understand the timeline: we shouldn't be paying for yesterday's administrative scandals until mid-2027. Public education funds belong in the classroom supporting students and teachers today.

https://www.denver7.com/news/investigations/cherry-creek-school-board-fills-vacant-seat

Cherry Creek School Board fills vacant seat The Cherry Creek Schools Board of Directors has filled its vacant seat after the resignation of Board Member Terry Bates in late April.

Your new school board director.