Douglas County School Board votes to remove Superintendent

DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- Following a heated, hours-long school meeting, the board for Douglas County School District voted to remove Superintendent Corey Wise.

The measure was passed in a 4-3 vote. According to Board President Mike Peterson, there are now two acting superintendents.

According to 9News, Wise had been in his position since August 2021 but had been with the district for 25 years.

In November, more than half of the board's members were replaced by a group of four conservative candidates. 9News reports the members ran together on a "Kids First" platform.

The three other board members held a public meeting Monday saying they were approached privately last week that the board president and vice president asked Wise to resign. If he didn't, the three said the other four were prepared to replace Wise.

When asked for a reason, Peterson claimed: "the district needs to get back to academics."

However, the motivation behind the removal was accused to be political.

During her vote against removing Wise, Director Elizabeth Hanson said, "this decision was not about performance in any way and that this is politics in its ugliest and purest and most destructive form. This is an attack on public education. And I hope that it is something that will wake up our community, our state, and our country."

Prior to the vote, Director David Ray read a letter from the student advisory group accusing acting board members of failing to consider the input of students and staff. The letter also accused the acting board members actions of being politically motivated.

This is a developing story.

Watch the full meeting below: