Four members of the Douglas County School District Board of Education have given district Superintendent Corey Wise the ultimatum to retire or be fired, according to board members David Ray, Elizabeth Hanson and Susan Meek.

“We really felt like we needed to process this together, and to make it public so that others could hear some of the things that we’re thinking about,” Ray said.

Hanson, Ray and Meek made the announcement Monday in a Zoom conversation, which was opened to the public in accordance with the state’s Open Meetings Law.

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The ultimatum reportedly came after a contentious meeting last Tuesday, during which the board voted 4-3 to make changes to the district’s equity policy. Board member Kaylee Winegar drafted the proposal, she said, in response to “serious and genuine trepidations and worries” about the possibility of the policy leading to critical race theory being taught in Douglas County classrooms.

Ray, Meek and Hanson decided to have the public Zoom conversation after they each had separate phone conversations with board members Mike Peterson and Christy Williams on Friday, they said.

During those conversations, Peterson and Williams reportedly said that they, Winegar and Becky Myers — all newly elected board members — had collectively decided that the district needed new leadership.

“President Peterson informed me that he, along with Christy Williams, had met that morning with Superintendent Wise and had given him the option to resign or let him know that the board would be moving forward with termination,” Hanson said.

Meek and Ray agreed that their conversations with Peterson had been similar. Wise was reportedly asked to decide one way or the other by Tuesday night.

Wise did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

When asked who Wise’s potential replacement would be, Peterson said they would address it after the superintendent’s decision, according to Ray.

Meek said she cautioned Peterson against firing the superintendent during the school year, noting that it could lead to “significant employee turnover and turmoil.”

Ray echoed Meek’s sentiments, adding that an upheaval of leadership could place an added strain on “a system that’s already under duress and struggling to maintain stability.”

“(Peterson) said that he was aware of the risk, and indicated that in his opinion a resignation at the end of the year is more detrimental,” Meek said.

Ray said the ultimatum was delivered to Wise without the benefit of due process.

“That’s the law, that we inform an employee who’s not performing well that there are issues of concern,” Ray said. “Due process gives the employee the opportunity to respond, and even possibly improve their performance if the concerns are valid.”

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The board members’ actions violated board policy, Meek said.

“Board members are taking actions that they are not authorized to take,” she said. “We need to follow the law, and we need to have conversations as a seven-member board.”

Ray added that the four board members violated the Colorado Open Meetings Law by making a unilateral personnel decision without informing the entire board. A part of the Colorado Sunshine Law, the Open Meetings Law requires a state or local government body to conduct or discuss public business in meeting that are made open to the public.

Meek, Ray and Hanson said no formal action would be taken during the Zoom call, but they did discuss possible next steps. Ray said the first step should be to reach out to Peterson and the other board members.

“We need to stop,” he said. “And we need to walk back a little bit from the unauthorized ultimatum that was given to Superintendent Wise until we can get back in the proper place of having these discussion in a legal and acceptable way.”

Hanson, an attorney, said she is considering filing an ethics complaint with the state. Peterson, Williams, Myers and Winegar consulted with Castle Rock attorney Will Trachman, and Hanson believes Trachman was ethically bound to share those communications with the rest of the board.

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“As an attorney, when you become aware of ethical violations, you are required to submit that to the state authority,” she said. “I’m willing to take responsibility for that portion.”

A Board of Education retreat, initially scheduled for Friday, has been postponed to an undisclosed date, according to the DCSD website. Ray said he will recommend that a special meeting be held in the next few days.

“We’re not just whining,” Ray said. “We truly are genuinely concerned that we’ve got a board that’s off the rails.”