DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. — A parent started a petition on Change.org to support a recall Douglas County schools board members after they voted to remove Superintendent Corey Wise during a special meeting Friday night.
The petition has exceeded 18,000 signatures. The parent behind it, Kacie Burns Nice, asks other parents and teachers to stand with her to recall the seats.
"Stand with me the right way - Demand their resignations and sign this petition to show support and to show our children this sort of behavior will not be tolerated," Nice said in her post, "This is not a way to get what you want. Let's do it the right way and show them how to get things done. Stand with me and ask as many as you can to sign this petition!"
Nice states that this is not a formal recall petition but said she's hoping to gather contact information of those who wish to join so she can update them with the next steps. There's even a website dedicated to updates, donations to the legal cost and a link back to the petition.
An official recall cannot occur until six months after the election, Nice said in an update Saturday morning, so at this time, they are searching for more signatures and donations.
>> Video below: Douglas County school board discusses superintendent contract
Wise was named to the post in April 2021. He had, however, been with the district for 25 years and was serving as the district's interim superintendent when he was formally named to the post.
In the November election, Douglas County's seven-member board underwent a shakeup when more than half of its members were replaced by a group of four conservative candidates. It's the first time conservatives have had control of the board since 2017.
The 4-3 decision came after the board voted down a motion to delay a decision until a future meeting where public comment would be accepted.
The other three board members -- Hanson, Susan Meek and David Ray -- held a public meeting on Monday and said they were approached privately last week with news that the board president and vice president asked Wise to resign. The three board members were informed that the other four were prepared to replace Wise if he didn't.
When asked for a reason why, according to these three members, Peterson reportedly said, "The district needs to get back to academics."
The board members present in Monday's meeting said they were concerned about the private nature of the moves, which could violate Colorado's open meetings laws. That is why they said they called Monday's public meeting.
More than 1,000 teachers called out sick Thursday to protest the possibility of Wise being ousted. That prompted the district to cancel all preschool to high school classes.
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