Former superintendent, 9News sue DougCo school board

From left, Mike Peterson, Kaylee Winegar, Christy Williams, Becky Myers, David Ray, Susan Meek, and Elizabeth HansonPhoto by: Douglas County School District

By: Suzie Glassman/Newsbreak Denver

(Castle Rock, CO) The list of lawsuits against the Douglas County School District and four members of its board continues to grow.

Former Superintendent Corey Wise filed a discrimination and retaliation complaint with federal and state offices on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Kyle Clark and 9News sued the district for refusing to release who requested the names of teachers who called in sick on Feb. 3 to protest the board’s plan to fire Wise.

Wise calls termination unlawful

According to Colorado Public Radio (CPR) News, “the complaint alleges that his termination was unlawful because of his attempts to protect students with disabilities and for his advocacy of the district’s equity policy.”

The complaint states that the four majority members of the board – Mike Peterson, Becky Myers, Christy Williams, and Kaylee Winegar – fired Wise for two reasons:

• His advocacy for masking in DCSD schools to protect students and staff with specific disabilities that make them susceptible to potentially fatal results if contracting COVID-19.
• Wise’s perceived and/or actual role in developing and executing the DCSD’s Educational Equity Policy (“Equity Policy”), which implemented the DCSD’s legal duty to address educational disparities and discrimination faced by minority students and staff.

Wise’s charge of discrimination document provides a detailed timeline of events leading up to his firing and specific comments Christy Williams and Mike Peterson made indicating the two were trying to hide their conduct from the public.

“We don’t want to make this super public, but we are prepared to do that if that’s the direction in which it has to go. We don’t want that for you because we want you to be able to, if you choose, to find another, you know, find another job. We don’t want this to be super public and have it be horrible,” said Williams during an early-morning meeting at the Fika Coffee house on January 27th.

Wise alleges the manner of his firing led to personal harm “including pain, suffering, anxiety, and depression which greatly impacted his personal and familial life.”

Attorneys for Wise filed the complaint Wednesday morning with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Colorado Civil Rights Division.

9News, Kyle Clark sue over teacher names

Wednesday, the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition announced, “Anchor Kyle Clark and the company that owns 9NEWS are suing the Douglas County School District’s records custodian for refusing to disclose a Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) request that sought the names of teachers who called in sick Feb. 3 to protest actions by majority members of the school board.”

Clark and other journalists requested copies of the petition, but the district said the records request wasn’t public information because the request was withdrawn.

The lawsuit states that “public records” includes any “writing” that is “made, maintained or kept” by a political subdivision of the state (such as a school district) “for use in the exercise of functions required or authorized by law or administrative rule.”

Access to public records can be denied only if an exemption in CORA or another state law applies. The lawsuit argues that withdrawing the request doesn’t “change the writing into something else” and that the district can’t reasonably argue that “requests submitted on a form provided by the school district are not “maintained or kept” by the school district.

Open meetings lawsuit continues

In February, Robert Marshall, a Highlands Ranch resident, filed a lawsuit against the board and its conservative majority members — Mike Peterson, Becky Myers, Christy Williams, and Kaylee Winegar, alleging they violated open meeting laws called Sunshine Laws, in the process.

A Douglas County District filed a preliminary injunction against the four board members requiring them to follow open meeting laws.

According to CPR, the injunction was the first step in arguing that the four board members acted unlawfully. The actual board meeting where they removed Wise was simply a rubber stamp of their earlier decision.

The litigation is ongoing.

Cherry Creek School District hires Wise

Today, the Cherry Creek School District announced that Corey Wise will serve as its interim superintendent for the 2022-2023 school year.

After his firing in February, Wise began serving as the interim community superintendent for the Jefferson County School district. That term ends at the end of the 2022 school year.