Much of the turmoil in the Valley Re-1 School District traces back to the start of the school year. In the wake of the death of a popular teacher, a fuse was lit, and it has burned to a point where students, parents, alumni and some staff members are raising voices in anger.

The April school board meeting erupted into charges the district is a "trainwreck" and "imploding." That firestorm contrasted with the somber start of the school year when Anita Lachance, a longtime teacher and instructional coach at Valley High School, died in early September of injuries from a car crash.

The months of strife in between those occurrences now leaves some residents and staff members fearing that families and faculty will leave the 1,900-student district.

Nancy Sarchet has had a front-row seat to the turmoil as a board member and counselor at Valley High School. She said the district is in trouble and leadership needs to address the accusations -- largely focused on poor communication and perceived bullying -- through open dialogue with the community.

"I just feel we have to do something, because if we just pretend it's not there, it will just get worse and worse and worse," Sarchet said.

Lynn Painter, a longtime teacher at Valley High School, said "communication is nil. That's hard when the people who are leading our district won't communicate at all. That gets a little hard for everybody."

The criticism is directed at the leadership of school board members and Superintendent Jo Barbie. At this month's board meeting, one resident called for both Barbie and board vice president Larry Ewing to resign.

Recent board meetings have drawn large crowds, twice being moved to a room at Valley High School in Gilcrest. About 60 people attended the April 18 meeting, which erupted into accusations of malfeasance and "heavy handed" administration attempts to terminate the contract of Ben Rainbolt, the popular nine-year principal at Valley High School.

Sarchet, herself a lightning rod of controversy because of her district job, abruptly resigned as board president, saying she felt she had become a distraction. She remains on the board as a representative of her district but not the president.

Crowds flocked to the March and April board meetings to find out why Rainbolt had been gone for two months. Between those meetings, more than 100 students walked out of class at Valley, demanding to know the same thing.

After the walkout, and at board meetings, school officials reiterated "no comment" on Rainbolt, calling it a personnel matter. After a six-hour meeting, the board in the early morning of April 19 voted 3-2 to renew his annual contract. Rainbolt got his building keys back and returned to work later that morning.

There have been other heated issues as well.

Controversial proposal

A conflict-of-interest proposal sprang up in October, sparking heated board, staff and parental discussion at consecutive meetings. Board members Ewing and Cynthia Hochmiller said Sarchet's counselor job impedes her objectivity and makes the board vulnerable to lawsuits.

Sarchet disagreed, supported in her stance by board members Christy Barlean and Robin Lind and the Valley Education Association, the teachers union. She said she has voted impartially on issues, including past contract renewals of Barbie, even though "technically she was my boss and I was her boss."

In February, the proposal to disallow district employees from serving on the board died on a 3-2 vote.

Although the proposal didn't pass, Hochmiller and Ewing have pressed Sarchet to abstain from voting on many issues. Sarchet willingly abstains from voting on the school calendar every year but "everything else (including the contracts of Barbie and Rainbolt) has never been an issue," she said. "I guess all of the sudden the question is, 'Why it is an issue?' "

Linda Underwood, a retired as Valley High School business teacher, agreed. "They've essentially tied Nancy's hands where she's not allowed to vote on anything of any importance."

Bob Anderson, a recent unsuccessful candidate for a vacancy on the board, said having a district employee on the board is "not good policy."

That matter aside, he believes Barbie is "divisive" and has become a "lightning rod. I don't see how she can function adequately enough with everything that's going on. ... I think she's probably done some good things for the district, but it's a 'what have you done lately?' kind of thing."

Anderson said the way the Rainbolt matter was handled concerns him for its seeming lack of due process.

Rainbolt said recently he doesn't know why Barbie didn't want to renew his contract and in February instigated a severance agreement just a month into his medical leave for knee surgery.

Barbie declined to be interviewed about recent tensions in the district.

'People who are scared'

The contract of Barbie, hired as Valley Re-1 superintendent in 2000, came to the board a month after the conflict-of-interest proposal flared. Her three-year contract, which pays her $130,320 annually, was to expire in June 2008.

A crowd filled the board room on March 21 when the board was to vote on Barbie's contract. The meeting turned into a free-for-all on her leadership as comments of support and ire volleyed across the room. Rosalind Ewing, wife of board member Larry Ewing, presented a list of 200 signatures of people she said are happy with Barbie's leadership, citing improved academic performance and solid financial decisions.

Rosalind Ewing said Barbie turned the district around. "The district was in really bad shape eight years ago -- horrible."

Manny Agripino, a district parent, later called the petition "ridiculous." "If you're doing a good job the last thing you need is a petition saying you're doing a good job. Your performance should speak for itself."

After a lengthy closed-door session, the board emerged at about 2 a.m. and voted on Barbie's contract. Because Sarchet was discouraged from voting -- Ewing and Hochmiller pressed the conflict-of-interest issue -- the vote ended in a 2-2 deadlock. Voting to renew the contract were Ewing and Hochmiller; voting against were Lind and Barlean.

Because the vote was inconclusive, Barbie's contract automatically renews for another year. She is now under contract through June 2009.

Lisa Werner, a district parent, recently told the board that the March 21 meeting was "a sad night" in district history.

"As a taxpayer and a parent I am appalled at Jo Barbie and her conduct and intimidation of the entire district staff," Werner said.

Paul Rumrill, who worked for about a year as the district's computer systems manager, said Barbie intimidates employees.

"There's a lot of people who are scared to death to say anything about her because they either have kids in school here or they work there and have retirement plans on the line," Rumrill said. "When Jo Barbie finds out somebody opposes her, she goes after them and gets rid of them."

Rumrill ran into problems with supervisors and resigned late last summer. He clashed with them on a major computer system overhaul, arguing that the contractor hired was not up to the task.

"I voiced my opposition on it and nobody listened," he said.

Last spring, Painter, the veteran Valley faculty member, was reassigned to a physical education teaching job at the school after spending seven years as athletic director. No reasons for the reassignment, made exclusively by Barbie, were given.

Barbie has also drawn fire for not immediately closing district schools the morning of the Dec. 20 blizzard. Her use of a district employee and equipment to clear snow from her property sparked complaints at winter board meetings. Barbie downplayed the incident, saying she reimbursed the district for the work.

But it was last August when the tensions began.

A tragic beginning

Just days before the start of the 2006-07 school year, Lachance was severely injured in a car crash, leaving her in a coma.

Rainbolt and Sarchet met with Barbie about how to deal with the situation. Barbie offered to tell the high school staff about Lachance, Rainbolt said, but he and Sarchet said they'd handle it, deeming it a matter relative to their building. They decided to set a Sunday meeting so staff members could process the tragedy without having to immediately face students, who would start school the next day.

When the phone tree was activated to alert employees, Barbie wasn't notified. "She didn't feel she was adequately informed of the meeting," Rainbolt said. "She felt I was trying to leave her out."

The next morning, Barbie came to Valley and, according to witnesses, chastised the principal and accused him of insubordination.

Barbie, though declining the most recent interview request, said earlier this month that "somebody didn't do what they were directed to do" in regard to the weekend meeting.

Rumrill, the former computer manager, said the incident touched off an uproar among Valley High School employees.

"I think that's kind of the thing that pushed it over the edge, where people finally decided we have do something about this," he said.

Soon after, Valley staff members convened to decide whether they should ask Barbie for an apology about the incident. The sentiment was universal there should be an apology, said Debbie Owens, a seven-year Valley teacher.

At a subsequent school board meeting, Owens said, Valley Education Association president Kevin Oakes was questioned whether the entire high school staff supported the request.

"To Kevin's knowledge, everybody was in agreement that there be an apology," Owens said. "We're not sure where the school board got information to the opposite."

The staff failed to get an apology from Barbie.

The next month came the proposal to revamp the conflict-of-interest policy. The policy allowed district employees on the board, but stipulated they should not vote on matters in which they could derive financial gain.

Underwood, the former Valley business teacher, said the proposal was directed at Sarchet.

Sarchet, whose four-year term expires in November, said in previous years she was never questioned about voting on contracts. She said as tension grew on the board in the fall, the issue came up within the board and administration.

"It seemed the way to deal with those disagreements was tighten up the conflict-of-interest policy so an employee couldn't be on the board," Sarchet said.

Barbie said earlier this month the proposal was board-driven. A discussion about information leaks from executive sessions led to the board's attorney pointing out that a district employee being on the board could pose conflicts of interest and open the district to lawsuits.

Anderson, who has organized a citizens' group to push for leadership change in the district, claimed at the April board meeting that Ewing has intimidated Sarchet.

Ewing did not respond to an interview request from the Tribune. Nor did Hochmiller, Barlean or Lind.

Other district employees have complained that Sarchet is restricted on the board.

"We're wondering why she's not being allowed to voice her vote for these two major issues (Rainbolt's contract and Barbie's contract) and they're throwing that conflict of interest in front of her," Owens said.

'Petty issues'

The rumors and tensions that have filled the year -- "it's been a long, hard year with all the circumstances that have taken place," Owens said -- leave a raw and unsettled mood in the district.

Owens said that while Valley High School teachers have not let the climate interfere with their work, "I have definitely heard younger staff talking about leaving because of the turmoil. ... They just don't want to be involved with what is really considered to be some petty issues."

A sign of sinking staff morale played out at the April board meeting when Valley High School secretary Shirley Ray took the podium. In a quavering voice, Ray talked about how the school needed the "profoundly positive impact" of Rainbolt back.

"I know that by speaking out I could jeopardize my job," she said. "... I needed to voice my opinion. I've kept silent too long."

While some district staff and parents have spoken highly of Barbie, Owens believes the district has veered off course.

"I'd like to see our map, and I'd like to see personal issues put aside and go to work on our main goal of student achievement," she said. "I don't know if that's happening."

WHAT'S NEXT

The Valley Re-1 School Board has scheduled a work session and special meeting on Wednesday night.

The board will meet in work session at 6:15 p.m. in the Education Service Center, 14827 Weld County Road 42. Inclement weather procedures, "response to patrons" and staffing recommendations are on the agenda.

The special meeting begins at 8 p.m. The agenda includes an executive session to discuss personnel matters.

Information: (970) 737-2403.