SEE WISE

be hired.

As per his contract, Wise will be entitled to a one-year payout, equaling $247,500, according to Peterson.

The decision came after a week of controversy among the board’s newly-elected four member majority and the three members making up the minority. At issue in the more than three-hour meeting was trust.

The three-member minority said trust was violated when Williams and Peterson held a meeting with Wise the previous week, giving him the options to resign, retire or face termination from the school board’s new majority.

Peterson defended the meeting, saying it did not violate open meeting laws and all board members were notifi ed about the meeting with Wise after it happened.

The majority members said trust was violated when Ray, Meek and Hanson held a public meeting Jan. 31 alleging the majority had violated open meeting laws in taking the action they did with Wise.

Later in the week, teachers held a “sick-out” that caused the district to cancel all classes Feb. 3. A demonstration was held, partly to support Wise, at the district offi ces in Castle Rock on the same day.

Wise was employed with the district for more than 26 years, climbing through the ranks to become superintendent.

As the meeting got going, Wise was given the choice to discuss his employment with the board behind closed doors in an executive session or in a session open to the public. Wise chose to keep the meeting open to the public.

In fi ghting for his job, Wise said, “The irony a little bit is that this was about me and my performance. I would love to go back and have the time to go through each of those. Step those out. Find the root cause. There are times where I wonder if you want to fi re each other or fi re me.”

Peterson, Myers, Winegar and Williams said they were prepared to work with Wise at the start of their terms; however, they questioned his handling of the district’s equity policy and its mask mandate.

The four majority members also questioned Wise’s ability to implement the board’s decisions, alleging his alliance remains with Ray, Meek and Hanson.

Peterson said while Wise is well liked by district teachers and students, he is not CEO material.

Wise asked the board to give him a chance.

“Let us lead. Let me lead. Let’s see what can happen,” he said. “Let’s take the handcuffs off and work together, and let’s see what can happen. Challenge me. I like to be the underdog. Let me prove myself, and if I don’t, then come have that conversation. But please don’t do it over a weekend and with the idea that the next day I have to choose to leave the district that I love.”

As the meeting was coming to a close and the fi nal vote was being taken, some confusion came up when Myers said “no” to the question of fi ring Wise. When Peterson asked for clarifi cation, Myers said she meant to say “yes” before asking for the question again, at which time she asked tearfully, “Can I just go home?”

Hanson said it was not fair for Peterson to change her vote, stressing that Myers voted “no” when asked.

Wise did not provide public comment following the board’s decision.

Members of the Douglas County School Board discuss trust and air di erences in a Feb. 4 meeting.

Superintendent Corey Wise hangs his head after the Douglas County School Board of Directors voted to fi re him

After the 4-3 vote to fi re him, Superintendent Corey Wise is met with hugs and handshakes after the meeting.

without cause. PHOTOS BY THELMA GRIMES

Protests planned at several DCSD schools as students urge transparency, educational equity

BY JESSICA GIBBS JGIBBS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Hundreds of students walked out of class on Feb. 7, protesting the Douglas County School District’s removal of former Superintendent Corey Wise. Protesters also rallied in support of educational equity, and many wore black to rebuke alleged violations of open meeting laws.

The Monday walkouts were organized over the weekend after the district’s school board voted 4-3 on Feb. 4 to fi re Wise without cause. Wise had spent his entire 26-year career with the district, starting as a studentteacher and climbing the ranks. He was named the district’s superintendent last year.

At Legend High School, dozens of students gathered around the school’s fl agpole shortly after 1 p.m., holding signs and shouting, “We support our teachers.” Earlier in his career, Wise opened Legend as its founding principal, and later left for a job in central district administration.

In Castle Rock, 16-year-old Gabby Hooper walked out of class in protest of the board’s choice to remove Wise, saying it disrespected teacher voices. The junior at Castle View High School said she is disappointed “and really scared for the future of our district.”

She believes fi ring a superintendent whom she knew to be well respected among staff will lead to teacher turnover. She watched the Feb. 4 special meeting with worries about its ramifi cations for the quality of education in DCSD.

“I just immediately thought about how many people this is going to affect, how big the cost would be to our district, and not just monetary cost, but also a personnel cost. How many good teachers we’re going to lose because of this,” she said.

Hooper said she is frightened “seeing the really intense division that exists” in her district community. Political division across the county is showing the most in local education, she said.

Hooper hopes the board prioritizes keeping good teachers in the district and working together.

“The really intense hatred and division and rhetoric going on at the board meeting is because of their refusal to work together and I just think something needs to change if we want anybody in our district to feel safe in the education system,” she said. “And that goes for staff and students.”

The student protests were the latest amid widespread reaction to Wise’s fi ring and allegations a conservative school board majority plotted to remove him in closed-door meetings.

The board minority of directors David Ray, Susan Meek and Elizabeth Hanson called a public meeting on Jan. 31, where they alleged directors Mike Peterson, Becky Myers, Christy Williams and Kaylee Winegar quietly agreed to remove Wise and then gave him a private ultimatum — resign or be fi red.

On Feb. 3, many district teachers participated in a sick-out. Roughly 1,500 staff called out, forcing the district to cancel classes. Hundreds of district employees, students and community members rallied in Castle Rock outside the district administration building in support of Wise and the district’s equity policy, another source of contention in the community.

The board majority had moved in a 4-3 vote on Jan. 25 to adopt a resolution that directs the superintendent to return in September with recommended changes to the district’s equity policy.

Amid the controversy, 10 former Douglas County School Board directors signed an open letter calling on the current board directors to “commit to completing the appropriate study, education and and/or (sic) training necessary to help them understand the scope of their individual authority and duties to our Douglas County community.”

Denver Public Schools Board Director Tay Anderson released a letter on Feb. 5 bearing the names of more than 50 current and former Colorado school board directors.

The joint statement said the directors are “both shocked and disappointed by the unprecedented action to terminate Superintendent Corey Wise without cause” by the newlyelected Douglas County School Board members. The letter called removing Wise without cause, without public engagement and despite strong pushback “a failure of governance.”

The special meeting during which directors terminated Wise was held without public comment. Peterson said the district had received an outpouring and suffi cient public comment throughout the week, while Ray called voting on Wise’s termination without allowing public comment during the meeting a travesty.

Backlash has also landed in court. Highlands Ranch resident Bob Marshall fi led a lawsuit on Feb. 4, alleging the board majority broke open meeting laws by using what’s sometimes referred to as “walking quorums” or “daisy-chain” meetings. The practice involves elected offi cials meeting twoat-a-time to discuss public business in order to evade quorum rules laid out in Sunshine Laws.

The lawsuit sought to stop the Feb.

Students walk out of class at Legend High School in Parker on Feb. 7 to protest the

fi ring of former DCSD Superintendent Corey Wise. PHOTO BY JESSICA GIBBS

Protests and rallies were held before and after the board’s decision to fi re the

superintendent. PHOTO BY THELMA GRIMES

Besides the equity policy, parents, students and teachers in the district expressed concerns over losing Corey Wise.

PHOTO BY THELMA GRIMES

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