The quiet takeover: What early oaths and a Friday ultimatum meant for Douglas County Schools

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice

Douglas County’s newly elected school board majority took office days early and outside public view after a week of private oaths, a Friday deadline, and a dispute over whether a policy on the Healthy Kids Colorado Survey (HKCS) should be added to the December 2 meeting agenda. Emails, texts, and public comments released since then show conflicting explanations from the incoming directors and intensifying concerns about transparency.

A Sudden Shift in Board Composition

Outgoing Board President Christy Williams said she first learned something was wrong on November 26. “I was notified by the superintendent that Tony Ryan had gone to get sworn in the day prior to that, and I said, ‘so what does that mean for Becky?’ And she said Becky’s no longer a director.” Williams immediately emailed the board. “I sent an email to the entire board last Wednesday that said hey everyone should know that the composition changed, but, also, it appears very sneaky and lacking full transparency though it is legitimate.”

The district had planned one public swearing-in ceremony on December 2. Instead, three incoming directors…Tony Ryan, Kelly Denzler and Clark Callahan…were sworn in, privately, between November 25 and November 28. All campaigned on pledges to restore transparency, open government, and public trust.

The Agenda Fight

The agenda for the December 2 meeting had been discussed on November 13, with all incoming directors present. Williams said, “The President has full responsibility of the agenda… I set the agenda, I approve the agenda.” She added, “I have to approve the agenda the Friday before a Tuesday meeting.”

No incoming director raised concerns during agenda planning. But on November 26, Director Susan Meek asked Williams to add a discussion on reversing the district’s HKCS policy. 

Williams questioned the timing. “I don’t know what the urgency is on this matter,” she said. “They have attacked me several times for changing an agenda item days before the actual meeting takes place.” And so here they are asking me to do exactly what they’ve attacked me for doing.”

The Friday Ultimatum

On Friday morning, November 28, Meek escalated. Williams said, “Friday morning I received a text message from Susan Meek… she essentially sent me a text that said, if you don’t put this item on then the other board directors are ready to be sworn in.” Meek’s text stated, “I also want to provide you notice that if I do not have confirmation by noon that the incoming board agenda will be posted as requested, the incoming board members are ready to be sworn in immediately.”

“It was kind of a threat,” Williams said. The way it landed with her was, “If you don’t do it my way, then you’re gonna be kicked off the board.”

“At about eleven forty I sent an email to the district that said this is how I wanna approve the agenda,” William shared. She approved the agenda at 11:40 a.m., but her emails show her frustration with the pressure to add the item and the late timing of the request, rather than with advancing the meeting itself.

“I was not going to add this agenda item.” Williams followed up with Meek, saying, “Now you’re asking me to do something that you’ve attacked me for in the past, so I’m not gonna do it.”

She also forwarded Meek’s own message and told her, “I also received your text, seems very threatening against code of conduct.”

Private Oaths Begin Within Hours

Williams explains, “She then at that point, I guess, went and told directors to start swearing themselves in.” Around 12:30 p.m., Vice President Kaylee Winegar received an email saying her replacement had been sworn in. Williams said: “I received something at about two thirty that my replacement had been sworn in on Friday.”

Denzler took her oath on Thanksgiving Day. Ryan was sworn in on November 25. Callahan emailed his oath around on November 28.

According to emails and statements…Susan Meek accused the outgoing conservative board of doing something similar during the 2021 transition. Meek asserted that the previous board had taken control of the agenda before their official swearing-in, implying that the current incoming directors were simply repeating precedent.

Winegar directly challenged that claim. She wrote, “I would not even equate the 2021 oaths of offices being done the same day of a special meeting and live broadcast as the same as what has taken place last Tuesday and today, with one even making sure to sign it on Thanksgiving Day.”

Williams also disputed Meek’s assertion. She said Meek was “trying to say that when we were sworn in, we had control of the agenda.” Williams said that was false and explained that in 2021, the outgoing board president sent the agenda to the newly elected directors, and “we accepted that and did not ask for any changes.”

Winegar went further, saying Meek’s comparison was not only inaccurate but part of a pattern: “Also the public swearing in ceremony has always been not simply symbolic since I’ve been on the board, it has been the ACTUAL transition. And for a new board to do this under secret and then as an attempt at extorting the final agenda, is disrespectful and wrong. It is everything you accused us of on the dais repeatedly: lack of trust and transparency.”

The Survey Window Quietly Moves

Williams said she expected HKCS to be administered between mid-November and mid-December. After Meek pushed for the agenda change, Williams asked the superintendent: “Wait, haven’t we already started this because that was my understanding?” She said she was told it was moved to mid-January. Williams stated, “I’m not really clear as to why it changed.” She added: “I would assume that it’s so that they can change the opt-in back to opt-out.” 

The timing shift placed the survey squarely under the new board’s control once their early swearing-in was completed.

Why Opt-In Matters to Parents

HKCS asks students sensitive questions about sexual behavior, gender identity, sexual orientation, drug use, alcohol use, suicidal thoughts, self-harm, and safety concerns. Under opt-in, parents must actively grant permission. 

Under opt-out, students are automatically enrolled unless families withdraw them. Parents who miss an opt-out notice may have their children answering questions they would not have authorized.

Some argue this results in lower participation rates and incomplete results. However, lower participation under opt-in reflects parents choosing whether their children should be exposed to the survey’s content, not a flaw in data collection.

Conflicting Stories From the Incoming Majority

In public Facebook posts, Ryan distanced himself from Meek’s request. “It’s not my request and as I’ve stated throughout this thread, I don’t think it’s appropriate to add to Tuesday’s meeting.” Regarding Meek’s text, he wrote, “Exactly why I do not support that text. Director Williams and Director Meek both knew that I was sworn in on Tuesday; well ahead of when that text exchange apparently occurred.” Ryan also said, “One of my childhood friends happens to be a notary public. I wanted him to swear me in for sentimental reasons.”

Denzler wrote: “While I had heard there was some back-and-forth about the agenda, I was not privy to the details of those conversations.” She asked a friend to bring her notary commission to Thanksgiving so she could sign her oath “in front of my family.”

A Troubling First Step

Williams said the community deserved to know what happened. “I just feel that the community needed to know that these directors are, in my opinion, being very shady and disingenuous.” She added, “Ultimately in the end… they also created distrust or mistrust with the community. I mean… it was all for naught.”

Because the agenda had already been approved before Williams was removed…the ultimatum, the rush to take office, the private oaths, and the maneuvering over Thanksgiving week did not change the December 2 meeting.

What remains is the question of whether these first actions—taken privately, defended inconsistently, and justified with competing explanations—signal how the new majority intends to govern Douglas County moving forward.