Since 2017, Evergreen Public Schools has spent more than $50,000 on a “governing system” it claims will streamline its board meetings and improve government functioning. So far the tab has included thousands of dollars for travel to “Wisdom Sharing” conferences in Colorado and California, featuring stays in deluxe hotels and dinners at upscale restaurants.
Invoices provided to The Columbian in response to a public records request show the district has spent $71,576.24 so far on training, travel and food connected to Coherent Governance, a program developed by Colorado company Aspen Group International. The program itself came with a price tag of $50,000, plus travel fees for consultants to travel to Vancouver and train board members. Consultants from AGI traveled to Vancouver three times last year, costing the district a total of $7,301.35 for flights, hotel rooms, meals and other expenses.
District staff and board members also traveled to conferences hosted by AGI to discuss the program. Between the two trips, the district has spent more than $13,000 on travel, conference registration, meals and other expenses.
Superintendent John Steach, his administrative assistant Elizabeth Schalk, and board member Todd Yuzuriha attended last year’s Wisdom Sharing in Vail, Colo. The district spent $446.40 per person for airfare, $181.17 per person per night for three nights in a hotel, and $700 each for conference registration. There are also receipts for several $90 dinners for the three, featuring dishes like a $25 duck ravioli, $38 poisson en papillote — a French preparation of fish cooked in a parchment packet — and a $28 order of mussel frites (the French word for fries), subbing the fries with sauteed mushrooms for an additional $3.
