This story first appeared in a Colorado Community Media newspaper. Support CCM’s neighborhood news.
Hundreds of people, including Douglas County School District staff, are expected to rally outside district headquarters on Thursday after bombshell allegations that the conservative school board majority asked the superintendent to resign or be fired in a closed-door meeting.
In anticipation of large-scale staff absences, the district announced a “no student contact” day for Thursday. Schools will be open for teacher and staff work, but students will not report to school as classes were cancelled.
“We have reached the point where the number of absences has impacted our ability to provide a safe and supervised learning environment for students,” a district release said.
District activities, sports and events will go on as planned unless respective coaches or directors notified families otherwise, the release said. A district spokeswoman did not respond to questions about the exact number of staff who had reported they would be absent Thursday.
The local teacher’s union, Douglas County Federation, announced it would be taking “collective action” with community members through the Feb. 3 rally. Protesters would “call on the new board majority to support students and staff, and respect democratic norms of engagement and administration,” according to a news release from the organization.
The school board minority of directors David Ray, Susan Meek and Elizabeth Hanson held a public meeting on Jan. 31 where they alleged the board majority had collectively agreed in private conversations to ask for the superintendent’s resignation.