Wauwatosa school district suspends AVID program amid allegations

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WAUWATOSA, WI — The Wauwatosa School District Education Council has suspended a college and career preparation program and announced an investigation into its contracting practices in response to allegations of conflict of interest involving a school administrator and her spouse.

Earlier this year, the school board approved a three-year, $ 170,539 contract with AVID, or Advancement Via Individual Determination, a non-profit organization that describes itself as a group that “changes lives by helping schools to adopt a more equitable and student-centered approach. “

The apparent conflict of interest involved Kristin Bowers, assistant superintendent of teaching and learning for the district, and her husband, Brett Bowers, who is regional associate senior director at AVID, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel report reported.

The district has suspended AVID programming in elementary and middle schools and will phase out AVID classes for current high school students while allowing them to complete classes. The district said it would decide later whether to resume AVID programming.

The district also placed Bowers on administrative leave. Patch reached out to Bowers and her husband on Tuesday for comment.

In October, the district sent a letter regarding AVID and apologized to the school community.

“We have not reached our professional level and the level the community should hold us to. For that, we are deeply sorry,” the district said.

He added, “Specifically, questions arise as to whether the district procurement process was properly followed when adopting and approving AVID contracts. Our preliminary internal review indicates that district officials did not follow district policy in the procurement and initial adoption of AVID, ”the district said.

Superintendent Demond Means has launched an AVID procurement review with education experts and a financial audit firm, the district said.

The district has failed to develop internal benchmarks to measure the effectiveness of the program, the district said.

On Saturday, the district posted a web page with a link to the letter from District Legal Counsel Buelow Vetter Buikema Olson & Vliet, dated August 16, 2019. The letter was addressed to then superintendent Phil Ertl.

Bowers has spent many years promoting AVID even after district attorneys called the situation a “potential conflict of interest and the appearance of impropriety,” according to a Fox 6 article based on a review of emails district interns.

Patch has applied for open registration for the emails.

District attorneys advised him to provide the findings to the Wauwatosa Police Department for investigation, according to the district’s webpage.

Patch contacted the police on Tuesday for confirmation.

The district also hired a professional services company to conduct an internal investigation, according to the webpage.

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