COMMERCE CITY, Colo. — The Adams 14 Board of Education shared its findings of an independent audit on Thursday detailing financial actions taken by its former external management partner, MGT Consulting LLC.

The school district selected MGT to help run the schools after an order from the state because of years of low academic performance. 

The Colorado State Board of Education recommended management by a private group other than the district. Adam 14's agreement with MGT started in June 2019.

After she was hired, the audit said Superintendent Karla Loria began reviewing contracts between the district, MGT and individual vendors. According to the report, she thought Adams 14 had paid other parties to provide similar services to those MGT was responsible for performing. 

"MGT did not properly oversee district expenditures and appear to have grossly misused district resources," said school board president Ramona Lewis. 

A spokesperson for MGT, said that isn't true. According to the spokesperson, district employees were asking for additional services that went above and beyond what MGT had already contracted with those vendors for and that is why there were separate contracts.

Eide Bailly LLP was retained in Sept. 2021 to review payments made by Adams 14. The firm reviewed contracts for eight individual contractors or vendors. According to Eide Bailly, the contracts seemed similar to work MGT was required to perform under the contract between MGT and Adams 14.

The audit said Adams 14 paid these eight vendors more than $495,000. 

"It was entirely possible that these services were being duplicated," said Adam 14's attorney Joe Salazar. "MGT was being paid already a significant amount of money to conduct these services but then they would go out and hire another group to do those services."

For superintendent Loria, this is not about the money. 

"It is about what we can get with that money for our students and our students didn't receive that," she said.

Adams 14 has struggled with low academic performance for more than a decade. According to the Colorado Department of Education (CDE), Adams 14 only received the two lowest ratings on the state's accountability scale from 2010 to 2019.   

“The forensic audit does not appear to provide conclusive evidence," said Education Commissioner Katy Anthes. "It simply directs the district to review its contracts. In the end, this is a contract dispute between the district and MGT. It is not something within the jurisdiction of either CDE or the state board."

"We continue to focus on the goal of improving academic outcomes for students. The board will hold a hearing in April, and it is legally obligated under the Accountability Act to take action to improve student achievement. We are waiting for the input from the independent State Review Panel, and have invited the district to make a proposal as well during the April hearing.” 

According to CDE, the department and the state board have both made multiple requests for the forensic audit over the last month and CDE did not receive it until 20 minutes before the press conference held by school leaders on Thursday. 

In a released statement, MGT's Executive Vice President Eric Parish said the "press conference is another example of the Adams 14 Board of Education making much ado about nothing." 

It continues, "there is nothing here, as the District Attorney's office itself has said, and the auditors would have come to a similar conclusion if they had actually interviewed anyone from the district's accounting or finance departments or anyone from MGT."

According to Parish, "the district's ongoing desire to create artificial distractions raises real questions about their interest and ability to lead the type of academic improvements that MGT accomplished during its time as lead partner."

The Adams 14 School Board voted to terminate its agreement with MGT, but the State Board of Education denied the Adams 14 request to find a new management partner. In April, the State Board will decide what to do next and if a different management partner will be allowed to work with Adams 14.

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COLORADO, USA — Colorado schools don't need a bunch of data to figure out cell phones in schools are a distraction, but maybe they need money to do something about it. The Colorado attorney general is offering school districts up to $50,000 to find ways to reduce or ban cellphone use in classrooms. 

The funding comes from the state’s settlement with Juul after an investigation found the company targeted young people in their marketing and misrepresented the health risks posed by their products.

It's an effort that brings mixed reviews. 

"I don't send my son to school with a cell phone for him to play video games or to do whatever kids do nowadays. I send him [with it] mainly for safety reasons," Colorado parent Maja Smith said. She understands why school districts may want to restrict cellphone use, but the thought of banning it all together worries her. 

Violent threats to schools are something she thinks about often. Her son already went through a false alarm. 

"And that time he did forget his cell phone at home and first thing he said was, 'Mom I couldn't get ahold of you,' so, he was in a lot of distress," she explained. "When he got out, he was extremely traumatized. He thought he would never talk to me again. It was really sad to see that in his state." 

9NEWS parenting expert and family therapist Dr. Sheryl Ziegler wants to see school districts ban cell phones. She said having access to a cell phone means access to social media and the distractions and mental health risks that come with it. 

A ban could possibly change that. 

"My guess would be, we would have less bullying, we would have less aggression, we would have less unsafe situations for parents to even be concerned about that they need to get in touch with their kids," Ziegler said. "The biggest hump is getting parents comfortable to not have immediate instant access to their kids." 

A spokesperson with Denver Public Schools told 9NEWS, a district-wide ban is not something being considered. They said each school can create their own policy, and they're not aware of any schools with a ban. 

Moms like Smith hope it stays that way. 

"Instead of taking things away, we need to teach our kid, give them clear expectations," she added. "The more you ban something the more it's going to be wanted." 

If a district signs up the incentive program the money will go towards paying for different ways to limit cell phone use, like pouches or cell phone storage systems or even launching programs for responsible cell phone use. 

9NEWS also asked other metro area school districts if they had any interest in a district-wide ban. The Douglas County School District said a cell phone ban is a decision made by each principal or building leader for the students at their school, both for class time and lunch or free time.