COMMERCE CITY — Holly Petrie has four kids all around the Adams 14 School District and she has seen the problems.
"I feel like they rush so much through all of the content that they're trying to teach the kids," Petrie said.
At Monaco Elementary School, she claims problems of high teacher turnover. At Adams City Middle School, Petrie says one of the problems is overcrowding.
"My daughter comes home all the time, she's like we have 38 kids in our class," Petrie said. "That's insane."
The problems have so bad for so long, eight years, that the State Board of Education voted to do something it has never done before. It is ordering that the Adams 14 School District in Commerce City contract with an external entity to run the district instead of current administrators.
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"The district has had consistently low performance in math and English language arts," Brenda Bautsch said.
Bautsch is an accountability specialist with the Colorado Department of Education. Adams 14 Superintendent Dr. Javier Abrego submitted a 121-page plan to the state to fix the problems. Bautsch says it didn't work.
"The hope is that adults within the system can work together and collaborate with this external management entity, with a local board, and with the State Department of Education to really get the best outcomes for those students," Bautsch said.
She says bringing in an external management group can make a big difference.
"Have them really take stock of what's going on in the district, have them engage with the community, talk with parents, and then hopefully see improved academic outcomes as soon as possible," Bautsch said.
Superintendent Dr. Javier Abrego has been running Adams 14 for the past two years. He says over the past decade sustained leadership has been a major problem contributing to the issues of effective learning in the classroom. He says since last years, three of the 13 schools have turned around.
"Those three schools the key factor was the principal and assistant principal had both been together for four or five years and very little staff turnover," Abrego said.
Abrego welcomes the idea of letting an external organization run his school district.
"We've been trying to do it by ourselves, but we need help," Abrego said. "We need help of the (external management organizations) and really a lot of it is going to fall on our community, our parents."
He says these external management organizations or EMOs can be effective.
"The key thing is we have to move at a faster pace, show progress sooner and quicker," Abrego said. "The EMOs coming in, they have expertise in certain areas."
The superintendent says this has to work otherwise the State could dissolve Adams 14 and have its students be absorbed by neighboring school districts.
"There's a lot of pride here and you know we want to make sure we keep our schools here in Adams 14," Abrego said.
Petrie says she's been considering leaving the district, but this order may convince her to stay.
"I think it gives parents hope. It gives teachers hope," Petrie said. "More importantly, it gives kids the chance and the hope to succeed."