Douglas County Students Plan Walk Out While Parents Rally Behind Recall Petition Of Some School Board Members
DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) – Some Douglas County students plan to walk out of class to protest the school board's decision to terminate the contract of Superintendent Corey Wise. The protest would be the latest way people are making their voices heard after a tense week in the district.
On Monday, board directors David Ray, Elizabeth Hanson and Susan Meek alleged board President Mike Peterson and Vice President Christy Williams gave Superintendent Corey Wise an ultimatum in private without notifying other board members. Some worry the alleged actions could violate the state's open meetings law, inviting challenges in court.
Then on Thursday, more than 1,000 teachers called out sick to attend a "collective action" rally outside the district headquarters in Castle Rock. The next night, board members voted 4-3 to fire Wise without cause at a meeting where public comment was not allowed.
"I don't support what the board members did," said Asella Straus, a junior at Highlands Ranch High School. "I think that no matter what side you are on, what they did was pretty messed up."
Through an Instagram page called "educationoverpolitics" Straus has been reaching out to other students just as concerned by what they saw. So far, she's found students at several other schools in the district who want to take action.
For now, the plan is to stage a student walkout at 1:10 p.m. Monday. Straus said students will be wearing black to "represent the death of student and teacher voices."
"I think it's really important that we have us leading something so big that could change things in our community and district," Straus said.
Straus' concern comes as the board's new members are promising to take the district in a new direction, something they said they were elected to do in Friday night's meeting. Some of the board members also shared concerns about communication, decision making, and trust with Superintendent Wise.
"My greatest concern is the change in direction of this district, the change to put the parent voice back in charge to ensure that we're focusing on academics and not activism," board president Mike Peterson said Friday night.
It's a promise of change, parent and DCSD graduate Kaci Nice once supported.
"No one wanted them to burn down the district," Nice said. "No one wanted them to have this many teachers threatening to walk out."
Now, Nice is hoping to take action as well. This week, she started a petition to support a recall effort later this year.
Any such effort cannot happen until six months after the election, which in this case would be May. Once a recall petition is approved by the County Clerk, organizers have 60 days to gather signatures and submit their petitions.
"So far we have over 15,000 signatures, which is what we need to actually do the recall," Nice said. "The amount of support that I know we're going to get is overwhelming."
Nice said board members are elected to lead by example, and if they can't she hopes the community can make an example out of them.
"The students have decided to walk out on Monday to teach them what they need to do, the teachers walked out before to try to teach them the right way, and if they don't step down on their own, we will recall," she said.
CBS4 asked each of the four new board members for an interview about their decisions and responses to community backlash. While none accepted, Board President Mike Peterson sent the following statement:
"At a Special Meeting on Feb. 4, the DCSD Board of Education voted to terminate the contract with Superintendent Corey Wise, effective immediately. I recognize this is an emotional time for our community and want you to know I am committed to restoring peace and unity to our school district with a continued focus on educating our children. In accordance with the district's succession policy, Deputy Superintendents Andy Abner and Danelle Hiatt will serve as acting superintendents for our school district. At a future meeting, the Board will discuss the appointment of an interim or permanent superintendent."
