School District 49 intends to launch a legal investigation into one board member’s behavior following a censure at Thursday’s meeting.

The board voted 3-2 to censure Ivy Liu for engaging “in willful and repeated behaviors that constitute failure to meet her fiduciary responsibilities to the district’s students, staff, parents, taxpayers and residents,” the resolution reads. The resolution further demands Liu’s immediate resignation.

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“This is just not the way it should work,” board Vice President Rick Van Wieren said. “But the time has come.”

The board is developing a legal case “for possible criminal or civil action” against Liu at an initial cost of $10,000 or less, funded through the district’s general budget. Expenses will be used to subpoena Liu’s personal and district-provided technology, collect depositions of former and prospective employees, provide whistleblower protection to staff, and subpoena additional records such as Liu’s personal phone, email, social media and texts.

Attorney Brad Miller said he will facilitate the search for an investigative entity to pursue the case against Liu. Miller serves as the board’s general legal counsel with the Miller Farmer Law firm.

As elected public officials, board members receive limited governmental immunity for actions they take on behalf of the district. This protection allows them to vote on controversial resolutions without fear of lawsuit repercussions. 

The censure resolution identified 11 alleged behaviors the board says are misrepresenting the district and are therefore not legally protected. 

“A censure, which is very minimally described in statute and policy, is simply a declaration,” Miller said. “There’s no sort of related actual sanction.”

Among Liu’s cited behaviors are falsely characterizing religious or political stances of her opponents, maintaining false identities to post unsupported claims on social media, creating a negative image of the district, and verbally attacking teachers and staff. Liu maintains these allegations are slanderous and have no evidentiary basis.

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Issues boiled over this month when Liu used an Adolf Hitler quote to criticize social-emotional learning (SEL) in a Facebook post, which she said was taken out of context. Her intention was to warn parents not to let history repeat itself, she said.

“‘He alone, WHO OWNS THE YOUTH, gains the future.’ Adolf Hitler,” her post reads. “Fight back the Critical Race Theory (CRT) concepts that are deceptively hidden in many of the latest Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) programs from CASEL.org. Not all SELs are bad but some are insidiously programmed to do just what our enemies intend.”

Response was swift and polarized.

Van Wieren privately emailed Liu to resign on Nov. 3, a week before he and board President John Graham would publicly demand her resignation at Thursday’s school board meeting. Graham issued a public statement on Nov. 4, saying most of the board found Liu’s post unacceptable and urging her to retract or clarify her comments.

Some, including district parent and teacher Sarah Temple, interpreted the statement as an attack against district educators. Temple teaches at D-49’s Sand Creek High School.

“I would support your resignation as an indicator that you understand and are learning that you cannot say from one side of your mouth that you support staff and applaud teachers, but from the other side spread hateful comments about teachers indoctrinating students,” Temple said.

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Others came to Liu’s defense.

Sabrina Balister, a taxpaying D-49 resident who has been attending school board meetings for the past year and a half, said Liu has garnered opponents because of her forthright nature and tendency to challenge others on difficult subjects.

“I know her character personally, I know her background and I know her heart,” Balister said. “This post was totally taken out of context and ran with. … This is blowing up for the wrong reasons.”

Board member Jamilynn D’Avola joined Liu in voting against the censure. She said Liu’s comment was a criticism of indoctrination in the curriculum, not from the teachers.

District CEO Peter Hilts rejected that justification, saying indoctrination requires human agency.

“When I hear these accusations of indoctrination, brainwashing, manipulation and recruitment, they have to relate back to a person,” Hilts said. “Curriculum cannot indoctrinate without humans.”

Liu denies any criticism toward teachers, describing the accusations as personally and emotionally challenging. 

“I hold much respect and esteem for our hard-working and underpaid educators,” Liu said in a written statement to The Gazette. “However, I hold the administration responsible for the direction of the district and the academic performance of the children.”

The school board is composed of five elected officials and has no authority to remove a member. That authority lies squarely with voters, who in 2021 elected Liu to a four-year term with 64.5% of the vote. Censures are the board’s primary form of discipline.

Voters also can opt to remove an elected official at any time in a complicated process known as a recall. Such an effort requires an application with support from 25% of the votes cast in the last election, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.