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Hiring an external attorney to help negotiate the superintendent’s contract could cost the Denver school board as much as $1,000 an hour.
The board voted 5-1 Thursday to approve an agreement with a law firm called Holland & Knight, which has locations nationwide, including in Denver. Board member Marlene De La Rosa was the sole no vote because she said the agreement was too expensive.
An attorney the board has sometimes used in the past, whose firm also contracts with Denver Public Schools for other legal matters, charges $290 an hour, district officials said.
“Paying three times what we are currently paying is incredibly costly,” De La Rosa said.
Some board members pushed to hire an outside law firm to avoid conflicts of interest regarding the superintendent’s contract and performance evaluation. In the past, the district’s general counsel represented the board. Board policy now prohibits that. The board is the boss of the superintendent, and the superintendent is the boss of the general counsel.
Superintendent Alex Marrero has raised concerns about the board creating “a parallel legal advisory system.” The move to hire an outside firm comes amidst tension between Marrero and the board — and between the board members themselves.
The board would not have to use Holland & Knight to conduct investigations, such as the one it authorized Thursday into allegations against Vice President Monica Hunter.
The agreement with Holland & Knight includes a three-tiered pricing structure: $1,000 an hour for an attorney who is a partner in the law firm, $550 an hour for an associate attorney, and $265 an hour for a legislative assistant, whose job might include researching the implications of a new state law. The agreement says those rates are a discount.
“How do we distinguish between when we are requesting what level of service?” board member DJ Torres asked at Thursday’s meeting.
“You will reach out to them and they will let you know who can do the job you’re looking for,” said Marcus Johnson, a Denver Public Schools attorney who reviewed the agreement with the board. “It’s up to them who they think can provide the services the board needs.”
The board could engage Holland & Knight two different ways. The board president could make the request, or three board members could make a request in writing, according to a written protocol. But Holland & Knight would not represent board members individually.
No law firms responded to a request for proposals to represent the board, according to board President Xóchitl Gaytán and member Kimberlee Sia, who led the search. Instead, Sia told the board last month that she reached out to firms to ask if they would be interested in the job. Of the two that responded, Sia said she and Gaytán chose Holland & Knight.
Melanie Asmar is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Colorado. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org.
