Former Cherry Creek School District Superintendent Chris Smith must repay one month’s salary for failing to provide the board of education with three-month’s notice of his resignation, The Denver Gazette has learned.

The board of education has not waived the requirement, Ashley Verville, a district spokesperson, said in an email.

Verville declined to say what the dollar amount to be repaid is or if Smith had paid it. Nor would Verville say whether the district intends to pursue collection or whether Smith’s obligation would be deducted from the nearly $165,000 leave and vacation payout announced earlier this week.

“These are different matters and are being handled separately,” Verville said.

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.

Smith’s salary was $332,601.

Hired in 2021, Smith abruptly resigned last month amid 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.

The district does have a nepotism policy.

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

The memo did not describe how concerns would be identified or reviewed — nor what role, if any, the school board would play in overseeing compliance with the arrangement.

While it’s unclear what prompted Bates’ memo more than a year after hiring Smith, it 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 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.

Poole has been placed on administrative leave.

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

Hired by the district in 1989 as a teacher, Poole worked his way up the ranks to assistant superintendent, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Amid public scrutiny over the recent leadership upheaval, the district has announced an independent audit, imposed stricter contract approval rules and placed a freeze on certain travel.

“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.

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. 

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