The Cherry Creek School District will pay nearly $165,000 to former Superintendent Chris Smith following his resignation last month amid allegations of a toxic workplace.

The board of education announced last week that the district is contractually obligated to pay Smith $119,857.87 in unused sick leave and $44,070 in vacation leave.

He abruptly resigned in January after allegations that he and his wife, Chief Human Resource Officer Brenda Smith, had created a “toxic culture” leaving employees with no recourse.

Brenda Smith has since been placed on paid administrative leave from the position she has held since 2019.

Assistant Superintendent Jennifer Perry was named interim superintendent.

A year after hiring Chris Smith in 2021, then Board President Kelly Bates wrote a one-page memo about how the Smiths were to conduct themselves with Brenda Smith reporting to Perry.

The memo, however, did not describe how concerns about workplace culture or conduct would be identified, escalated or independently reviewed — nor did it specify what role, if any, the school board would play in overseeing compliance with the arrangement.

The district does have a nepotism policy.

It’s unclear what prompted Bates’ memo more than a year after hiring Chris Smith. Bates declined to comment.

The 2022 memo, however, came two months after The Denver Gazette reported that the district was under multiple federal civil rights investigations tied to allegations of sex- and race-based discrimination, retaliation and unequal treatment in pay, discipline and harassment complaints.

The allegations also involved Assistant Superintendent Tony Poole and his wife, Rebecca López, the director of Neurodiverse Student Services.

The investigations were opened by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights under Title IX and Title VI.

Hired by the school district in 1989 as a teacher, Poole worked his way up the ranks to assistant superintendent, a position he has held since 2019, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Poole, too, has been placed on administrative leave.

Just weeks earlier in January, Poole had submitted paperwork for a 110-day calendar work year, often a signal for post-retirement employment.

Amid public scrutiny following the recent leadership upheaval, the Cherry Creek School District has announced the launch an independent audit of its internal controls. The board has also imposed stricter contract approval rules, lowering the dollar threshold for board oversight and requiring additional executive and legal sign-offs on spending.

Additionally, the board placed a freeze on certain travel and intends to review district policies related to nepotism and conflicts of interest.

“Our community expects transparency and strong stewardship of public resources, and we are taking clear, decisive steps to deliver both,” Board President Anne Egan has said.

“We are strengthening oversight, reinforcing our financial safeguards, and ensuring thoughtful leadership in service to students. Our focus remains the same: academic excellence and meaningful pathways for every student.”

Initially the board was expected to begin its superintendent search this month, but has pushed it off until the end of summer. The selection process would then begin in the fall.

Perry’s contract has been extended through June 30, with the option to extend through the following school year. 

With nearly 52,000 students, Cherry Creek is the fourth-largest school district in Colorado and consistently ranks among the best in the state, Colorado Department of Education data shows.