ESU #15 rejects latest settlement offer from Chase County Schools

    In a unanimous vote, the Educational Service Unit #15 board rejected a second settlement offer from Chase County Schools in the ongoing court case involving the two entities.
    The case was filed by the ESU in September 2021, seeking payment for special education services the ESU provided in a 2020-21 school year contract. In the original court filing, the ESU said it was owed $168,852.70.
    At the ESU #15 board meeting June 15, an 8-0 vote rejected provisions of the CCS latest settlement offer and directed ESU’s attorneys with Lincoln’s Perry Law Firm to continue with  litigation.
    Paul Calvert was the ESU #15 administrator when the court case was filed nearly two years ago. He left the position the end of June.
    Calvert said last month’s board action  means the ESU will move forward with litigation and begin scheduling depositions to receive sworn testimonies.
    Calvert said the funds the ESU board will agree to include a figure for actual services rendered by their staff, plus some attorney costs and interest.  
    CCS’s latest offer, he said, is lower than what the ESU is now seeking, and includes a hold-harmless clause and nondisclosure agreement with it.
    Calvert said the ESU board will not accept the non-disclosure agreement CCS wants “because the ESU board wants to tell its side of the story.”
    The NDA is a big part of why the ESU board rejected it, he added.
    ESU #15 stopped providing special education services at CCS in March 2021 after bills had not been paid. At that point, CCS had paid a portion of its 2020-21 contract.
    The crux of the issue lies in the ESU billing for special education services.
    CCS Supt. Adam Lambert in a March 17, 2021 story said the school wants more specifics on the ESU billing statements including “the name of each child served and the hours spent with that child.”
    Calvert has said ESU #15 uses a billing system that lists the hours worked by ESU staff on a particular day. He added that he’s used the same billing form with all of the schools in the ESU #15 service area for 14 years, and all of them are getting their state reimbursements for special education costs.
    He said that wouldn’t happen if the NE Department of Education had a problem with the way services are billed.
    CCS stopped making invoice payments to ESU in late 2020 after the impasse between the two was not resolved. In the  March 2021 Imperial Republican story, CCS Supt. Lambert said the school generally receives eight bills during the school year, and at that time, CCS had paid two of them.
    The ESU board’s June 15 motion reads “To approve rejection of the provisions of the Chase Co. Schools’ offer and direct Perry Law Firm to continue with litigation and begin scheduling depositions.”
    At Tuesday’s CCS meeting, the board met in closed session for an hour on litigation.
    Calvert has moved to a new job as superintendent at Hanover Public Schools, a suburb of Colorado Springs.
    Phillip Piquet is now the ESU’s administrator, taking over July 1. He previously worked as the Perkins County High School superintendent in Grant.