Just one in three Denver Public Schools have a current, functioning website for the campus’ school accountability committee — which is mandated by state law — a recent online review of campus websites has found.

“You cannot fix a problem you cannot see,” Karen Mortimer, a DPS parent, said during public comment on Monday.

Mortimer, as the chair of the district’s District Accountability Committee, has previously expressed concerns about these campus committees, called Collaborative School Committee (CSC). The committees statutorily are required to provide guidance, evaluation and recommendations to the principal on spending priorities.

The CSCs are also designed to promote family engagement, a key district goal.

The District Accountability Committee (DAC), which works with these campus committees, serves as an advisory committee to the Board of Education on budget priorities, school improvement plans and charter school applications, among other things.

The DAC has sought data this school year on the status of these campus-based committees.

Board President Carrie Olson said Tuesday that she and Superintendent Alex Marrero have discussed how to bolster the CSCs.

“I don’t think that there’s anything nefarious about it,” Olson said. “I just think we need to get streamlined.”

Olson also said that better oversight would help the district identify “the gaps.”

“I think it’s something that has fallen through the cracks,” Olson said.

Typically, these school committees work quietly in the background with little fanfare. But the issue has come to the forefront as campus leaders face budget shortfalls, and teacher cuts, for the upcoming school year.

At least two school committees — Denver School of the Arts and Kunsmiller Creative Arts Academy — have filed grievances against the district with the teachers’ union over budget processes that excluded the CSC tasked with making budget recommendations.

The principals at these schools, according to committee minutes and CSC members, declined to even provide the school budget used to justify cutting teachers next academic year.

“The hearing officer partially upheld a small portion of the grievance that had been filed on behalf of staff members at Kunsmiller Creative Arts Academy,” Scott Pribble, a district spokesperson, said in an email to The Denver Gazette. “That portion of the process will be redone from the beginning with the interim leadership and Central Office leadership.”

Given some teachers have already been notified that they will not be returning next year to Kunsmiller, it is unclear what a budget redo would accomplish.

Pribble declined to provide additional details or the hearing officer’s report.

Of the district’s roughly 200 schools, 120 campuses — or 61% — have a committee with an online presence, something Mortimer called a “pleasant surprise.”

Of these schools:

• 74% provide information online to parents on future meetings.

• 68% post meeting minutes.

• 33% list CSC members.

Nearly half of the schools with a CSC webpage, though, are out-of-date — some by two years or more, the review found.

Prior to 2015, Denver Public Schools’ Family and Community Engagement (FACE) provided oversight to ensure these committees were acting in accordance with state law, but no longer does.

While staff does provide CSC support, Mortimer said short of having a line of sight into the machinations of these campus committees the district is providing a “scattershot approach” to oversight.

In her public comments Monday, Mortimer recommended the board require all schools have a CSC website with its bylaws, meeting dates, minutes, member list and participation information.

She also suggested annual training and a CSC audit to identify which schools need extra support, particularly with recruiting parent members, and she encouraged the district to hire a staff member whose sole job would be to ensure compliance.

“Duh,” said Tami Matthews, a Kunsmiller parent. “That’s my comment.”

Matthews added: “I think that some kind of audit is crucial to ensuring that we’re following Colorado law.”