CASTLE ROCK, Colo. — In a public Zoom meeting Monday night, three Douglas County School District board members, Elizabeth Hanson, Susan Meek and David Ray, said they were each individually contacted over the weekend and informed that board president Mike Peterson and vice president Christy Williams secretly sought the resignation of Superintendent Corey Wise in an effort to remove him from the district's top spot.
The three members said they were blindsided by the revelations. They also said the way the removal was pursued was a violation of their contracts and state law.
"I was entirely unprepared for that conversation," said Hanson. "It's a clear violation of the contractual agreement to update the entire board and to treat the entire board as one entity."
Hanson said she will pursue legal action against Peterson, including filing an official ethics complaint.
According to Colorado law, any meeting between two or more public officials must be made available to the public. Also, school board members are not allowed to take any action regarding the direction of the school district without the input from other members.
"As an attorney, I actually have an obligation to report ethical violations of other attorneys," Hanson said. " I'm not comfortable having an individual on our payroll who is not in compliance with his contract legally or ethically, and I think that that's something that needs to be addressed immediately."
Denver7 reached out to the school district for comment from the superintendent. A spokesperson said that because no vote has been taken, they have no comment.