DENVER – Four new conservative members of a school board south of Denver voted to fire the superintendent at the end of a week of controversy over leadership and the direction of the Douglas County School District.
The board voted 4-3 on Friday to fire Corey Wise without cause, effective immediately. He has worked for the district for 26 years and had just over two years left in his contract, The Denver Post reported.
“It’s more about finding someone who better aligns,” said new board member Kaylee Winegar. “It’s just what we want to do with this district is different.”
The new board members, elected in November 2021, rescinded a school mask mandate that was intended to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and have asked for recommendations to change the district’s education equity policy.
The policy, which was passed in March 2021, calls for the district to create an inclusive culture and ensure the district provides equitable educational opportunities regardless of a person's race, sex, gender, religion, disability or socioeconomic status.
Friday’s meeting was scheduled after the three minority board members said during Jan. 31’s meeting that they had learned the board’s president and vice president privately told Wise to resign or be voted out, even though the board had not met about the issue.
The allegations led to protests by school employees and parents – many of whom were already upset with plans to change the equity policy. On Thursday, about 1,000 teachers called out sick and protested in Castle Rock in support of Wise and to demand transparency from the board, causing the district to cancel classes.
The board took no public comment before voting Friday to fire Wise, but the four majority members expressed concerns about Wise implementing policies set by the previous school board, such as the mask mandate, and for his lack of response or knowledge of actions by others in the district, for example, employees calling off work to protest.
“I don’t think he does a good job representing the board to staff,” board vice president Christy Williams said, adding she’s heard there are times when he misrepresents the board’s intentions.
When asked to clarify, Williams said she'd heard from several people that Wise was saying he was surprised the board hadn't just rescinded the equity policy.
