11/29/2025
🚩🚩🚩FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Board Members Sworn in Under the Cloak of Darkness
Contact: Christy Williams
Douglas County, CO — On Wednesday November 26, 2025, Douglas County School Board President Christy Williams was informed that Director Becky Myers was no longer a sitting member of the Douglas County School Board. President Williams learned that Director-elect Tony Ryan had, without any prior communication to the Board, been sworn in by a notary public on Tuesday, November 25th. This action, conducted without transparency, appears to have been an attempt to secure a premature Board majority.
Traditionally, incoming Board Directors are sworn in during a public ceremony held in the Board Room on the Tuesday following the certification of election results, occurring no more than ten days after certification. This year’s ceremony for all four incoming Directors had been scheduled for Tuesday, December 2, 2025.
Recently, a public campaign funded by Advance Colorado Action called for a special meeting to revisit a November 11th vote regarding a Charter School contract extension. Ryan’s early swearing-in appears intended to prevent such a meeting from being convened.
Agenda planning for the December 2nd Douglas County School Board meeting took place on Thursday, November 13th, led by Board Vice President Kaylee Winegar. Both Directors-elect and current Board Directors participated in reviewing the proposed agenda.
By Board practice, meeting agendas must be approved by the Board President on the Friday preceding the meeting—in this case, Friday, November 28th. On Wednesday, November 26th, Board Director Susan Meek requested new items be added to the agenda, including one concerning district student survey policies and a potential shift from parent opt-in to parent opt-out.
On Friday morning, Director Meek texted President Williams stating that if the agenda was not approved with her additions by noon, all incoming Directors would proceed to be sworn in immediately, behind closed doors.
President Williams informed Director Meek via email that she would not add non-urgent agenda items because the agenda had been finalized on November 13th, and due to prior criticism she had received when making late changes. The agenda had already been approved and could not be modified at that stage.
Shortly after noon on Friday, Vice President Winegar received word from Director-elect Kelly Denzler that she had been sworn in, with the oath of office dated Thanksgiving Day. Around 2:30 p.m., President Williams received an email from Director-elect Clark Callahan notifying her that he, too, had just been sworn in.
These actions were taken to enable a reversal of a vote in just four days’ time. Rather than adhering to long-standing processes and traditions of Douglas County Schools, the newly elected Directors—coordinating with Director Susan Meek—circumvented the customary process in an attempt to alter an agenda that had already been approved.
With the swearing-in of the Directors-elect, outgoing Directors were automatically removed from their positions.
“It is a shame the incoming Board Directors felt it necessary to bypass the process the Board has consistently used in Douglas County,” President Williams said. “I am also disappointed in Director Meek for threatening me and encouraging unethical behavior in the incoming Directors. Taking underhanded steps in the darkness shows the public they will put their own desires ahead of what is ethical. I believe this is starting their terms as Directors off on the wrong foot.”
“This transition was to be a meaningful closing chapter, and my family had hoped to attend as a final show of support. It is unfortunate that there is nothing for them to attend now, as my responsibilities that I was elected to fulfill just abruptly ended while I was heating up my lunch on a Friday afternoon,” Vice President Winegar said, “Whatever the motivation, stepping into office sooner than planned by the school district staff reflects a lack of respect for the democratic peaceful transition of power. It signaled not only a discourtesy for me as an outgoing member but also for the many individuals who dedicate themselves to the success and future of Douglas County schools.”
Following the early swearing-in of the Directors-elect, Director Tim Moore submitted his resignation, effective immediately.
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