Cherry Creek teachers lose jobs as contract irregularities surface in district leadership crisis

DENVER — As families in the Cherry Creek School District headed into spring break this week, teachers across the district received devastating news: their jobs will not exist next year. The layoffs mark the moment when months of leadership turmoil at the top of Colorado’s fourth-largest school district began reaching classrooms directly.

“This week, we started to see the impact of all of the mismanagement hit our classrooms,” Molly Lamar, a former candidate for the Colorado State Board of Education who has been tracking the district’s crisis, said on The Kim Monson Show. “As families are going off for a week of spring break, teachers across our district are being told that they won’t have jobs next year, which is just heartbreaking.”

According to Lamar, the cuts appear to hit hardest in special education and gifted programs. “Just the cuts seem to be especially high for those serving our students that are in special education and gifted programs,” she said, noting that those positions are notoriously difficult to fill. The reductions fall under the department that reported to Assistant Superintendent Tony Poole, who was placed on administrative leave in February for “allegations of misconduct in the form of insubordination.” Lamar said the department appears to be “millions of dollars over budget,” though that figure has not been independently confirmed.

The layoffs come on the heels of the district’s failure to provide legally mandated services to 11 deaf and hard-of-hearing students, a violation confirmed by the Colorado Department of Education earlier this month. At Monday’s board meeting, 22 public speakers addressed the board, including a father who spoke about the lack of services for hearing-impaired students. “Anytime you have 22 speakers at the Cherry Creek School Board meeting, public school board meeting, that is a sign that things are not going well,” Lamar said. “Our school board meetings are supposed to be really boring and really quiet.”

Contract irregularities and stonewalled records requests

Beyond the classroom cuts, Lamar has been filing Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) requests to examine employment contracts within the district’s administrative ranks. What she has found, she said, raises serious questions.

Lamar said it is unusual for a school district to maintain individual employment contracts with the superintendent’s entire cabinet. “It’s normal to have a contract with the superintendent, but not with all of these associate superintendents, which under Chris Smith, we have a huge administration,” she said.

When Lamar requested 18 employment contracts, the district responded by charging over $200 for the records. “They’ve now come back and said it will cost over $200 to provide these contracts,” Lamar said, describing the fees as an apparent effort to discourage scrutiny. “They realize that we’re finding all of this information. So now they stalled and won’t provide it unless we pay these huge fees.”

The one contract the district did provide, according to Lamar, contained a glaring irregularity. She said the contract for administrator Toby Aratola, carrying a six-figure salary, bore the approval of a former board president who had already stepped down. “They essentially took a stamp and approved Toby Aratola’s contract for a six-figure salary with the former board president in 2026. She stepped down in 2025. So that contract is null and void,” Lamar said. These claims about the Aratola contract have not been independently verified.

A $950 million bond and misplaced priorities

The leadership crisis unfolds against the backdrop of a $950 million bond issue that voters approved in November 2024 with about 55 percent support. That money was earmarked for replacing aging buildings, expanding the Cherry Creek Innovation Campus, improving school security, and addressing more than $300 million in deferred maintenance.

Yet Lamar reported that the district has already begun pushing Phase 1 construction projects into Phase 2, with Phase 2 now contingent on voters approving another bond in 2028. Meanwhile, according to Lamar, the district is spending millions on a new women’s soccer stadium in Centennial. “They have pushed those off to phase two because of money, yet we are spending millions of dollars on this new soccer stadium,” she said. “Our priorities are so out of whack.” Cherry Creek High School students and teachers continue to be exposed to black mold in aging buildings, Lamar added.

The district’s troubles began accelerating in January when Superintendent Christopher Smith unexpectedly resigned after principals raised concerns about a toxic workplace. His wife, Brenda Smith, the chief human resources officer, was placed on administrative leave for “allegations of misconduct including contractual and travel matters,” with the Denver Post reporting she spent $38,492 on travel over two fiscal years. The board has since ordered an independent audit, lowered the dollar threshold requiring board approval on contracts, and named Deputy Superintendent Jennifer Perry as interim leader. CBS Colorado reported the board also halted new contracts and imposed new travel guidelines.

“Our teachers should not and our students should not be losing truly the most important person in their classroom, which is their teacher due to our irresponsibility and corruption that is existing right now,” Lamar said.