The Ripple Effect
Estimated Read Time: 5 minutes
On Friday, Feb. 4, 2022, the four majority directors held a special public Board of Education meeting with the action items to discuss the superintendent’s contract and the direction of the district. It was hastily called by the majority directors (they did not notify the minority three until 5:06 p.m. the day before), and did not allow public comment. The agenda called for an hour of discussion followed by a closed-door Executive Session, where, presumably, they would vote in private to fire Wise with their 4-3 majority.
Superintendent Corey Wise, in perhaps his final gift to the DCSD community, requested that the meeting continue in public, forcing the bomb that the four majority dropped on the DCSD community to be in full view of the DCSD community and media. Much like the disruption of the calm waters of a pond after a rock is dropped into it, the repercussions of the boulder that was dropped Friday evening continue to ripple into the community.
Let’s take a look at some of the consequences of their actions.
Recall Petition Launched on Change.org
Although a true recall is not legally allowed until elected officials have been in office for at least six months, a petition began circulating on Change.org, to recall the four majority board members for their actions. As of the time of this publication, more than 24,200 had signed the petition.
Student Walk-Out
As the news of Corey Wise’s termination spread, several students decided to support their teachers and stand in solidarity with their former superintendent. At least eight middle and high schools saw hundreds of students walk out on Monday, Feb. 7. This was the second large demonstration in support of DCSD teachers, Corey Wise and the minority board members within a week. It is clear that this community is losing faith in the direction these four majority directors are leading this district:
“The core four (school board members) want it to be all about the parents and
what the parents want, but they aren’t the ones in school,” said 17-year-old
Audrey Yakubovich, a junior at Highlands Ranch High School and whose
mother teaches in the district.
For candidates who ran on a platform of “Kids First,” they seem to be implementing quite the opposite in their decision-making.
Colorado School Board Directors Respond
The ripples continued as School Board Directors from across the state joined together in solidarity with Corey Wise and the three minority Directors. In an unprecedented collective letter, they echoed the calls from the Douglas County community for ethical, transparent leadership.
“As elected School Board Directors our job is to prioritize the needs of students and staff across our districts and to put our communities first. Effective leadership is rooted in transparency and accountability and requires us to work across ideological divides to create strong and resilient schools.”
These Directors heard the pleas from the DCSD community to have trust in their district leadership to make decisions following policies and allowing for transparency. If these 60+ leaders can listen and emphasize their responsibility to do so, why won’t the Kids First BOE Directors do just that?
Lawsuit Filed Against DCSD Over Colorado Open Meeting Laws
As soon as Directors Hanson, Meek and Ray alerted the community to possible violations of Open Meeting Laws, the community reacted. While the teachers and community were organizing the sick out and rally for Thursday, community member and attorney Robert Marshall took things a step further. At the beginning of Friday’s BOE meeting, two individuals served papers to the four majority Directors on behalf of Marshall. Over the weekend, more details came to light on the lawsuit and the community is now waiting to hear the progress of this action. One thing is for certain, though, the four majority Directors are on track to cost this district hundreds of thousands of dollars within a few short weeks.
Staff Resignations
Before the community had a chance to process the impact of what the four majority Directors had done, they were dealt another blow when longtime educator and leader and current Special Education Services Officer, Sid Rundle, announced on Monday, Feb. 7 that he would be leaving the district. A much loved individual in the community, Rundle had been making wonderful progress in improving and rebuilding the Special Education Department within DCSD. He was a beacon of hope to parents and teachers who had long struggled to see their students receive the services they needed and were legally obligated to have. As the news traveled regarding Rundle’s decision, we learned that at least four teachers had resigned over the weekend after Corey Wise’s termination, compared to January 2021 in which 6 teachers resigned over the entire month.
All of this has left parents, teachers and students asking themselves: is this the beginning of the end? Will the ripples subside, or will they keep penetrating deeper into our DCSD community?