Death threats, allegations of bullying and fake social media accounts have all become part of the contentious school board recall election in Jefferson County, which is drawing large amounts of money and national attention.

The tension is rooted in philosophical differences about the use of charter schools, how teachers are paid and who should have access to free kindergarten. But, increasingly, the discussions have become about personal and partisan attacks.

“School boards were never meant to become a bully pulpit for politics,” said Thomas Alsbury, a professor at Seattle Pacific University who researches school boards and district governance. “There’s too much power and too much money involved now.”

Campaign finance reports released this week show more than $450,000 has been raised by candidates and committees involved in the recall. But other organizations that act indirectly — including Americans for Prosperity, which supports the current board — do not have to file their spending. There are estimates that as much as $1 million already may have been spent on the recall.

Still, Alsbury says, the situation in Jefferson County is rare.

Tuesday’s ballot includes a recall for three seats and a general election for the board’s other two seats where members are not seeking re-election. If the recall is successful, the entire board for the state’s second-largest school district could be new.

Ballotpedia, a nonprofit online publication that tracks elections and legislation, named the Jefferson County school board election “the top election to watch” in the country this year — ahead of Louisiana’s race for governor and Pennsylvania’s filling of vacancies on its Supreme Court.

“Jeffco has been in the national spotlight for more than a year, which is extremely unusual for a school board,” said Daniel Anderson, an editor for the website.

The three union-backed candidates to replace the board members facing a recall have reported more than $144,900 in campaign contributions.

Committees supporting and opposing the recall have reported a total of about $181,000. Outside of the campaign finance reports, a spokeswoman for Americans for Prosperity said its spending on campaigning for issues in Jefferson County has been in the low six figures.

One ad released last week by the Independence Institute claims that board member Julie Williams’ special-needs 17-year-old son, Randy, was tricked in September 2014 into carrying a sign opposing her.

DOCUMENT: Findings for Julie Williams’ complaint

“Her special-needs son, Randy, became an unwitting pawn as recall supporters had him march with a protest sign against his own mother,” the video’s narrator states.

But the recall effort had not yet started at that time. A district investigation, launched at Williams’ request, reviewed 270 hours of video from three separate dates and didn’t find evidence of the incident.

“Randy never gave me an exact date,” Williams said. “I just know it happened.”

Asked whether she was using her son for political gain, she said, “Absolutely not.”

“This is bullying of a child,” Williams said. “People need to know what’s happening. When there are so many lies and allegations, it’s time to tell my side of the story.”

Students from the school say they never saw Randy at the protests, and one group asked for a new investigation.

“If there is a malpractice at Standley Lake, if Randy was bullied, I hope it gets addressed. I think it’s terrible,” said Esteban Arellano, a junior at the school who organized the protests in September 2014. “However, if it’s not the case, I want it to be brought to the attention of voters. By making such accusations, Mrs. Williams is bringing up something very irrelevant and, frankly, disrespectful.”

In May, board member Ken Witt was accused of bullying after he directed the staff to display the social media profile of one student, whom he accused of favoriting what he called a racist tweet.

DOCUMENT: Report of complaint against Ken Witt

The tweet was from an anonymous, fake Twitter account for Lisa Pinto, a former communications director for the district.

An investigation found Witt’s actions were not a violation of district policy. The student, Ashlyn Maher, says the tweet was not racist and denies favoriting it.

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office has investigated incidents of death threats against children of board members and, more recently, against recall supporters.

Many agree that the tension of the election has moved the focus away from important discussions.

“That’s not what a school board race should be about. It’s unfortunate because it has gotten away from how parents and students are treated at school board meetings,” said Lynea Hanson, a spokeswoman for Jeffco United for Action, the group that initiated the recall effort. “Instead, it has turned into this tit for tat and back-and-forth.”

When Witt, Williams and John Newkirk were elected in 2013, voter turnout was less than 40 percent.

Alsbury says the Jefferson County situation is an example of the dissatisfaction theory of American democracy.

“Where people have been relatively happy with their board, they become uninvolved,” he said. “Then you’ll have an election, a new board will get in. You brought in a whole new set of values on to the board unbeknownst to the public.

“If the community looks at that change and says, ‘Yup, we’re good with that,’ there’s no problem. On the other hand, the community could sort of wake up and say, ‘Wait a minute, we didn’t want this.’ “

The Jefferson County clerk’s office said as of Wednesday it had received nearly 80,000 of the 350,000 ballots it sent out.

National attention started last fall when the board considered a proposal by Williams to task a committee with reviewing curriculum, specifically in response to a new controversial framework for Advanced Placement U.S. history that was called unpatriotic.

After student protests and claims of censorship, the board tabled the proposal. This year, the group behind the framework gave in to criticism and scaled back the changes.

In their short time on the board, the three targeted board members also have reformed pay for teachers by creating links to performance evaluations and eliminating raises for teachers with unsatisfactory ratings.

The board has moved to student-based budgeting, in which schools get allocations of dollars per student to get more flexibility on spending. In doing so, the number of schools providing free full-day kindergarten decreased, but now all low-income students are eligible for free full-day kindergarten at any district school that offers it.

The board also is getting ready to consider approving an out-of-state charter school with ties to a management company, Academica, that is under review by the federal government.

At an earlier candidate forum, the board members facing recall said they support having a charter-friendly district, and they envisioned becoming like Denver Public Schools.

“I am confident the reforms have begun to and will make a tremendous difference in our students’ success,” Witt said. “It’s critical we maintain the focus on improving the education.”

During his time at Standley Lake High, Arellano says he has learned how passionate people are about education. “In terms of how they’re behaving,” he said, “people are watching.”

Yesenia Robles:

yrobles@denverpost.com

