A Douglas County judge has ordered the county’s board of education to stop communicating in the manner that it did in the run-up to its decision to fire then-Superintendent Corey Wise on Feb. 4, ruling that those communications violated the purpose of the state’s open meetings laws. 

District Judge Jeffrey Holmes issued the temporary injunction Wednesday afternoon, 12 days after the board’s leaders testified in his courtroom about how they decided to fire Wise. The ruling is an early victory for Douglas County resident Robert Marshall, who alleged the board’s four newest members broke Colorado’s open meetings law by talking one-on-one and in a coordinated, decision-making manner about Wise’s future. 

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Wise’s firing had split the board: Its three more veteran members had expressed shock and outrage at Wise’s firing, and they publicly accused their four newer members of breaking the law in discussing his dismissal. The four newcomers, meanwhile, had maintained they broke no laws and that Wise’s firing was needed to move the district in a new direction.

Under Colorado law, the board would’ve had to meet publicly to discuss Wise’s future had three or more of them been talking at once. Instead, the board’s four new members spoke one-on-one about Wise at the end of January, and then the board’s two leaders — Mike Peterson and Christy Williams — met with Wise on Jan. 28 and told him he could resign, retire or be fired.

A week later, during a special public meeting that included no public comment, the board voted 4-3 to fire Wise.

In his ruling, Holmes wrote that the board is barred “from engaging in discussions of public business or taking formal action by three or more members of the (board of education) either as a group or through a series of meetings by less than three members at a time, except in public meetings open to the public.”

He said the “series of private one-on-one meetings at which public business is discussed and/or decisions reached is a violation of the purpose of the statute, not just its spirit.”

The rest of the lawsuit still needs to be litigated. In addition to seeking an order blocking the board from communicating in that manner again while the suit plays out, Marshall and his attorney, Steve Zansberg, have asked Holmes to declare the communications a violation of state law and to reinstate Wise, who they contend was fired illegally, given the alleged violations of state law.

When asked about the judge’s ruling, a spokeswoman said the school district had no comment. 

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In an email, Zansberg called Holmes’ ruling “well-reasoned” and said it “recognizes that local public bodies cannot circumvent our state’s Open Meetings Law by discussing public business — and making important policy decisions — through a series of meetings by two members at a time.”

“The four newly-elected School Board directors deliberately used this scheme to evade public scrutiny as they discussed and decided … to terminate the District Superintendent’s contract,” he wrote. “There is no weightier policy decision than this for a school board to make; the Order says it clearly and plainly: ‘Discussions by members of the [Board of Education], let alone ultimate decisions on this subject should be conducted at meetings open to the public.'”

In court late last month, Peterson, Williams and the school district’s attorneys argued that the conversations were just on a one-on-one, “temperature check” basis and that the four members engaged in those talks — all newly elected and newly installed as the board’s officers — did not make their final decision until the formal vote to get rid of Wise on Feb. 4. 

The hearing had featured Williams, Peterson and fellow newcomer Becky Myers testifying essentially in their own defense. More veteran board member Susan Meek — who has been critical of the newcomers’ conduct and handling of Wise’s dismissal — also testified. After Peterson and Williams met with Wise on Jan. 28, Peterson called Meek, a conversation that Meek recorded.

That recording, along with one made by fellow veteran member David Ray, indicated that the board’s majority had already made a decision to fire Wise before the Feb. 4 public meeting, Zansberg argued, and that the formal vote held on Feb. 4 was little more than a rubberstamp.

In his ruling, Holmes indicated that he agreed.

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“The hiring and firing of a school district’s superintendent is clearly a matter of public business,” he wrote. “It is a subject that can generate strong feelings and it is a matter on which the public can expect to be fully informed. … The evidence indicates that four members of the board collectively committed, outside of public meetings, to the termination of Wise’s employment. That decision was then formalized at an official meeting on February 4th.”

Holmes’ order comes as the board’s leaders look to move past Wise and into the future. Though Wise was terminated just over a month ago, the board has already identified two finalists to be his replacement. One of those finalists, charter school administrator Erin Kane, had already discussed the job with Peterson before Wise’s termination.

The board’s new members have indicated they want Wise’s replacement hired as soon as possible, with a hire possible before the end of March. 

Wednesdays’ order is the second time in five days that Holmes has issued an injunction against a Douglas County governmental body. On Friday, in a separate suit, he ordered the newly formed Douglas County Health Department to temporarily stop enforcing a public order that allowed for exemptions to any businesses’ or entities’ mask requirement.