JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. — Former Douglas County School District Superintendent Corey Wise has been hired by Jeffco Public Schools after being fired from Douglas County this month.
The state's second-largest school district hired Wise as an interim community superintendent. A district spokesperson said one person on the district's community superintendent team was recently named chief of schools, creating a vacancy on the team. Wise will fill that role through the end of the school year.
According to the district, community superintendents are part of the school leadership team and serve as a link among the schools, the community and the district, as well as overseeing school management.
Wise served as Douglas County superintendent from April 2021 until he was fired at a special school board meeting Feb. 4. Per his contract, Wise was to be awarded $247,500 for being fired without cause.
Wise had been with Douglas County schools for 25 years and was serving as the district's interim superintendent when he was formally named to the post.
The day before he was fired, more than 1,000 teachers called out sick in protest of the possibility of Wise being ousted. That prompted the district to cancel all preschool to high school classes that day.
Two weeks after he was fired, Wise retained a law firm and sent a letter to the district seeking substantial documents on numerous topics, including emails and other “digital communications” generated by members of the school board regarding his termination.
The Douglas County board on Tuesday approved a timeline for the hiring of their next superintendent. The board president said as of Tuesday night, they had eight applicants for the job.
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