Incoming members say previous members are trying to ‘delegitimize’ election

The new members of the Douglas County school board have already assumed their seats – in “secret,” according to the outgoing president.

The move by three of the four incoming directors effectively kicked out the four outgoing members early, said the outgoing board president, who accused the new members of being less than transparent.

Douglas County voters in November elected a group of progressive-leaning directors, flipping the once conservative Douglas County School District Board of Education. 

Three of the four elected directors already started their positions before Tuesday’s special meeting, when the board is supposed to be formally sworn in, according to Christy Williams, the outgoing board president. 

“This action, conducted without transparency, appears to have been an attempt to secure a premature board majority,” she said in a statement announcing the early exit of outgoing directors.

“It doesn’t show that you’re being very transparent with the public,” Williams also said. “When you go and you start pushing board members off of the board before you know you were scheduled to do that, it starts a term off being a little bit deceptive.”

It is not illegal to swear in after early, so long as it’s done after the election’s certification.

Kelly Denzler, responding to accusations against her and other incoming board members, rejected the claims of the outgoing members.

“It’s sad to see outgoing members try to delegitimize a certified election,” Denzler said.

Williams said elected directors Denzler, Tony Ryan, and Clark Callahan swore in before notifying the sitting board members that they are replacing.

“They chose to, in my estimation, flip the board sooner than later because they were concerned that there might be a special meeting called,” Williams, who was replaced by Callahan, told The Denver Gazette in a phone call Sunday.

“It is not ethical, nor is it respectful to members who have been on the board and worked for four years, whether you agree or disagree with their positions,” Williams said.

The former DCSD director said Ryan informed former Director Becky Myers he already took his oath on Tuesday, meaning the latter is no longer a sitting board member.

Previously, Advance Colorado Action called for a special meeting to revisit a contentious vote not to renew charter school contracts, according to Williams. That, she argued, was what prompted Ryan to get sworn in early.

In mid-November, Williams drew scrutiny for pushing the ordinance to extend charter school contract renewal timelines. Critics argued she attempted to rush a measure that the new board would reject.

Former Director Kaylee Winegar said she learned Friday that Denzler, her replacement, also swore in on Thursday. Williams said Callahan, meanwhile, notified her on Friday.

Colorado law says elected school board members must appear in front of an officer authorized to administer the oath of office within 10 days after an election certification. The Colorado Secretary of State’s office officially certified statewide elections last week.

“Just because you can doesn’t mean you should, and that’s totally what happened, is they did this in secret, when in the past, it’s always been in public,” Winegar said.

Outgoing Director Tim Moore resigned from his seat after the other directors left, according to Williams.

Kyrzia Parker, Moore’s replacement, hasn’t been sworn in yet.

The returning board directors with terms expiring in 2027 are Susan Meek, Brad Geiger and Valerie Thompson.

Brad Miller, an attorney at Miller Farmer Carlson Law, said school board directors swearing in early isn’t illegal, but he called it “an anomaly.”

“This is not an illegal act. However, I have been working in public school boards as a lawyer for some 20 plus years. I’ve never seen this done before,” he said.

The DCSD Board of Education special meeting is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday at the DCSD Legacy Campus in Parker.

DCSD has more than 61,000 students across 92 schools.