The Douglas County School District paid former Superintendent Corey Wise an $832,733 settlement after he brought state discrimination charges against the district and several school board members over his firing last year after he advocated for students with disabilities and youth of color, Wise’s attorneys announced Monday.
Wise filed the discrimination claims with the Colorado Civil Rights Division and the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment alleging Douglas County Board of Education members Becky Myers, Michael Peterson, Christy Williams and Kaylee Winegar unlawfully terminated him without cause in violation of his First Amendment and due-process rights, as well as multiple state and federal civil rights laws, according to the Rathod Mohamedbhai law firm.
The Douglas County School District did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“The not-so-thinly-veiled discriminatory and retaliatory animus exhibited by Board Members Myers, Peterson, William and Winegar towards historically vulnerable and disenfranchised students in the district and their advocates has resulted in real harm to Douglas County’s students and their quality of education,” Wise’s attorneys said in a news release. “Sadly, these individuals have put their own political aspirations and plotting over the well-being and success of students and families in the district.”
The Douglas County School District paid Wise $270,733 for the remainder of his superintendent contract and then $562,000 to resolve all of Wise’s unlawful termination claims, his attorneys said, for a total of $832.733.
All of the settlement money was paid through Douglas County School Board’s insurance policies, Wise’s attorneys said in the news release, meaning no funds were diverted from students.
The Douglas County School Board’s conservative majority fired Wise because he supported students and staff wearing masks in schools to protect themselves and their families against COVID-19, and because of his role in developing and implementing the district’s equity policy, according to Wise’s discrimination complaint.
Wise was integral in developing a district equity policy that stated the school district would “offer and afford every student and staff member equitable educational opportunities regardless of race, color, ancestry, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression, gender identity, religion, national origin, marital status, disability, socio-economic status or eligibility for special education services.”
Some school board members campaigned against the policy, erroneously claiming it pushed critical race theory.
When the board majority was elected, they voted to create a new equity resolution that removed the previous initiatives to ensure representation, accessibility, diversity, equity and inclusion within all district-approved curricula.
Wise also sued the district along with nine parents of children with disabilities after the Douglas County Health Department decided in 2021 that students and staff no longer had to wear face masks to combat COVID-19.
A week after the vote on the equity policy, the school board fired Wise last February without cause. His termination sparked protests among teachers and students and a lawsuit alleging school board members violated open-meeting laws.
“Hopefully, his story sheds light on the dangers of politicizing student education and spreading misinformation about students, personnel, curriculum and school policies,” the attorneys’ news release said
This is a developing story that will be updated.
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