On Tuesday, Board President Reggie Foster sent an email to all of the staff members in the Custer County School that she and Board Director Cameron Fore wanted to make an announcement to the school staff at 4:15 in the Library, āIn keeping with the Boardās commitment to transparency, I will be sharing a brief update.ā Many confused staff members forwarded the email to the Tribune.
During the meeting, Foster announced that she and the Board had decided to place Superintendent Thom Peck and High School Principal Aundrea McCormick on administrative leave pending an investigation by the Board. What was not transparent about the announcement was that the statement was a confession from the Board President that the Board had already decided to take this action outside of a public meeting, which would be a violation of the Colorado open meetings law. This would be the second time in the past two months that the Board has made such decisions in secret, likely breaking the Colorado open meetings law in its efforts to terminate the contract of Superintendent Thom Peck (The Tribune investigated this issue in February).
Shortly after the announcement Tuesday afternoon, the School Board posted an agenda for an Emergency Meeting on Wednesday, April 16, at 5 p.m. with five agenda items placed for a vote, which includes administrative leave for the Superintendent and High School Principal, and approval of an acting Superintendent and High School Principal. During the staff meeting, Foster was asked who would replace the Superintendent, and Foster responded, āWe have people ready.ā
Of note, the agenda does not allow for public comment in this meeting, which is normally allowed. While there is no law that states public comment is required, it has been a tradition of the school board to allow the public to comment.
The School Board has the power to hold a meeting in public and terminate the contract of the Superintendent at any time in that public meeting. However, the Board does not want to terminate the contract early and is trying to avoid financial penalties by ending the two-year contract before it expires. The actions of the Board have instead turned to secretly trying to find ways to pressure Peck to resign, first in an executive session on February 12 and now through launching an investigation agreed to by the Board in secret. If Peck resigned, they would not owe any extra money on his contract, and the firm that searched for Peck has guaranteed that they would hold another search at no additional cost.
The point of contention is that while the Board has the power to terminate Peckās contract at any time, such a discussion and decision would have to be made in public, an act that would be wildly unpopular with many people in the community. Three out of the five School Board members are up for election this year.
What is clear is that two board members, without a majority vote of the Board, have no authority to make an announcement to staff that they have decided to place the Superintendent and High School Principal on administrative leave and to launch an investigation into the two administrators.
The Tribune has reached out for comment from the School Board and will post any replys. We will also continue to report on this story as it unfolds.
Jordan Hedberg Ā
Photo cutline: Board President Reggie Foster and Board Director Cameron Fore