Douglas County School Board rejects settlement for ongoing lawsuit over open meetings violation
The Douglas County School Board has rejected a settlement for an ongoing lawsuit that would have required four members to acknowledge they violated Colorado open meetings law by talking about firing the former superintendent outside of a public meeting last year.
In a special meeting held Monday night, the board voted 4-3 to reject a settlement in the lawsuit brought by state Rep. Robert Marshall, a resident of Douglas County. In the suit, Marshall alleges board members Mike Peterson, Christy Williams, Kaylee Winegar, and Becky Myers discussed former superintendent Corey Wise's future in a series of private meetings before giving him an ultimatum, and ultimately firing him without cause.
"It sickens me to think that we're continuing to spend district dollars because we're not willing to simply say, 'Yeah, the way that went down wasn't how we should have done it,'" director David Ray said.
The rejected settlement included several stipulations, including the payment of $66,000 to cover Marshall's legal fees and a new injunction for board members.
It also would have required members to "acknowledge that pursuant to the legal advice of counsel, they had non-public discussions among three or more members concerning public business in violation of the Colorado Open Meetings Law," which the board's four conservative members opposed. Throughout the meeting, all four maintained their innocence and several shared their objections to the specific stipulation.
"I have maintained for over a year now that I do not believe that I did anything illegal," said director Christy Williams. "I maintain that I am not guilty."
The case now heads to a jury trial in June, which members estimate could cost the district upwards of $500,000. A spokeswoman for the district told CBS News Colorado the district has paid $122,000 for legal costs related to the case so far. While director Winegar put the financial responsibility solely on Rep. Marshall, other members vehemently disagreed.
"Continuing this lawsuit is selfish, a waste of taxpayer money, it takes resources away from students, and is just plain wrong," director Susan Meek said.
"The court already ruled they violated the law, and the only sticking point to the settlement is their inability to admit they received poor legal counsel and violated the law," Rep. Marshall said via text to CBS News Colorado." "It's ridiculous that they are going to waste $500,000 of taxpayer money to go to court and wind up with a more restrictive injunction that we offered, solely to protect their egos rather than putting the district's teachers and students first."
The Douglas County School Board voted 4-3 to fire former superintendent Corey Wise without cause in February of 2022. Wise later filed charges of unlawful practices with the Colorado Civil Rights Division and Colorado Department of Labor and reached a settlement with the district totaling more than $832,000 last month. That was paid through the DCSD's insurance policy.
