Brandon Leuallen, The Business Times

Mesa County Valley School District 51 paid more than $26,000 for a motivational speaker to present at middle schools and high schools across the district with a lack of parental notification during Kindness Week events in February, according to documents released through a Colorado Open Records Act request.

Records show the district paid $26,125 to CoolSpeak LLC for a three-day speaking tour by Dr. Laura Rizo that included assemblies at 11 District 51 schools from Feb. 9 through Feb. 11. The invoice lists a rate of $2,375 per school, covering a keynote presentation of up to 60 minutes at each location, with travel expenses included.

The events were held at five high schools: Central; Fruita Monument; Grand Junction; Palisade; and R-5. There were also six middle schools: Bookcliff; Fruita; Mt. Garfield; Orchard Mesa; Redlands; and West.

In a response to the records request, District 51 Communications Director Callie Berkson wrote that the presentation was funded through a Colorado Department of Education Stronger Connections Grant, which supports student mental health, well-being and belonging.

“No general funds (school or district) were used,” Berkson wrote.

The records request was submitted by Grand Junction parent Kirby Richardson, who said she learned about the presentation only after her son attended one of the assemblies.

Richardson said her frustration was not with the speaker, but that she felt the district should proactively inform parents when outside speakers are invited to present at schools. She also questioned how the district chooses outside speakers as there is not a publicly transparent process.

Richardson said she searched district communications but did not find advance notice about the speaker and decided to submit a CORA request seeking information about the presentation, the cost and related communications.

Richardson questioned whether spending more than $26,000 on a single speaker while the district is going through major financial hardships is the best use of grant funding.

Emails included in the records show district staff coordinating logistics for the three-day tour and working with school administrators to schedule assemblies across the valley.

In one message organizing the schedule, District 51 Mental Health Promotion Specialist Connie Young wrote that the tour would require travel between multiple campuses.

“I have been able to put together a schedule that accommodates each school’s requests and requirements,” Young wrote in the email. “With that being said, we will be back and forth across this valley a few times.”

In one email shared among district staff, Palisade High School counselor Jon Burke wrote that the presentation had been reviewed internally.

“She does mention her own suicidal thoughts, but then how someone’s kindness helped her out,” the email states.

According to materials included in the correspondence, the assemblies encouraged students to participate in acts of kindness and included activities such as passing around a “Boundless Hero” cape and awarding a medal to a student during the presentation.

One email said the district received a discounted rate for the multi-school tour. A representative from CoolSpeak wrote that the district’s per-school rate of $2,375 was reduced compared with a typical keynote fee of about $7,500.

The district’s response provided a copy of the presentation slides as part of the records response, but it noted the material was created by a third-party presenter and may be subject to copyright.