Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to include a response from former board member Terry Bates, which was received after publication.

Cherry Creek School Board Member Terry Bates resigned after making “racialized remarks,” the district announced Friday.

District officials did not disclose what the remarks were.

“When a member’s actions fall short of board policy and those values, we must address it directly and stand for what is right,” the Cherry Creek School Board said in a statement. “As a Board, we have zero tolerance for this type of behavior.”

The statement went on to say that the board has “credible information that Board Director Terry Bates made racialized remarks that were unacceptable and inconsistent with our values.”

District officials also said — without elaborating — that “others reported concerning interactions.”

Bates, who represented District D, assumed office just four months ago after beating Amanda Thayer with 54.7% of the vote.

His term was set to end in 2029. It’s unclear how the seat will be filled.

“We are working on a process and can share that info as soon as it’s available,” Abbe Smith, a district spokesperson, said.

On Friday, the board held an executive session to discuss a policy governing member conduct, including conflicts of interest, gift restrictions and the use of confidential information.

The agenda did not disclose whether the discussion was about Bates. But officials disclosed Bates’ resignation after the executive session.

The board policy the agenda referenced does not specifically address the conduct for which Bates is said to have resigned.

Bates did not return a phone call seeking comment Monday.

After publication, however, he emailed a response saying he “accept[s] full responsibility for offending others by my comments” and that he had previously provided a written apology to board members, which he said was not acknowledged by the board.

Bates declined to provide The Denver Gazette a copy of his apology.

His resignation comes at a time of district leadership upheaval.

In January, former Superintendent Chris Smith abruptly resigned in the wake of public allegations that he and his wife, Brenda Smith, the district’s chief human resource officer, had created a toxic work environment.

Jennifer Perry was tapped to serve as interim superintendent.

The district is expected to pay the former superintendent nearly $165,000 in unused sick and vacation leave.

Less than a week after resigning, Brenda Smith was placed on paid administrative leave.

And then two weeks later, Assistant Superintendent Tony Poole was placed on leave. Poole has since separated from the school district.

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

The district does have a nepotism policy.

The board of education waved this policy when 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 did not describe how concerns about workplace culture or conduct would be identified or reviewed. It also did not specify what role, if any, the school board would play in overseeing compliance with the arrangement.

It’s unclear what the board did, if anything, to address issues with Poole and his wife, Rebecca López, the director of neurodiverse student services.

Board members were warned four years ago about the couple.

The Denver Gazette reported in 2022 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, including allegations involving Poole and López.

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

Amid public scrutiny following the recent leadership upheaval, the Cherry Creek School District has announced the launch of 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.

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