Douglas County Teachers Hold 'Sick Out' To Protest Board Actions

CASTLE ROCK, CO —Douglas County School District declared Thursday a no-student contact day after a large number of staff —perhaps as many as 1,500 —submitted absences, reportedly in protest against several actions or expected actions by the recently elected school board majority, according to Colorado Public Radio.

The "Sick Out" led to the cancellation of all classes in preschool through high school in the state's third-largest district, which has about 3,300 licensed teachers.

"We have a large number of staff who have submitted absences for Thursday, Feb. 3. As a result, we have reached the point where the number of absences has impacted our ability to provide a safe and supervised learning environment for students," the district wrote in a letter to parents posted on social media.

CPR reported that a rally against the school board majority was planned for Thursday afternoon outside the district's headquarters in Castle Rock, with families, teachers and school staff expected to attend.

According to CRP, four conservative-leaning candidates — Mike Peterson, Becky Myers, Christy Williams and Kaylee Winegar, running together on the Kids First slate — won seats on the seven-person school board in November.

The group quickly eliminated the district's mask mandate and voted to change the district's equity policy.

Earlier this week, the three other members of the school board —Elizabeth Hanson, Susan Meek and David Ray —said they had learned that Peterson, the school board president, and Williams, the vice president, had asked District Superintendent Corey Wise to step down, 9News reported.

Wise took over his current post last year and has been with the district for over 25 years.

According to 9News, if Wise didn't resign, the four conservative members of the school board were prepared to replace him.

In a statement on Tuesday, Peterson said no action had been taken on Wise's contract or employment status, and he said that any formal decision regarding Wise's employment status would "take place during a public meeting, as required by law."

"Last week's conversation (with Wise) was to provide our superintendent with information needed to participate in an ongoing discussion. I will continue to engage all board directors on this matter. I am committed to honoring our superintendent's legacy and service to our school district," Peterson said in his statement.

Peterson added: "My hope is that our focus remains on our students and keeping them in the classroom, even in the midst of this personnel matter."

Another contentious issue, according to CPR, is the fear that the conservative board members want to alter the district's equity policy.

Passed unanimously last spring, the policy is designed to "guide the predominantly white district in addressing unfair practices and complaints of racism, and to make student resources more representative of different groups of people," supporters of the policy told CPR.

However, a resolution championed by the board's conservative majority and passed last week directs the superintendent to recommend changes to the policy. One of those changes is that no equity policy should "impose stereotypical beliefs and actions of an identity group onto a student."

On Jan. 25, 53 principles and 13 central office staff signed a letter to the board asking them to let the equity policy stand as it is written, according to CPR.

Winegar told the station that the changes to the policy are meant to get more public input about how the word equity is used in schools, which she said has led to "shaming and retaliation against teachers, students and staff who express views and opinions that are counter to others' views and opinion," Winegar said, according to CPR.