The conversation around the firing of Head of School Dan Kohler from North Routt Community Charter School shifted this week from one about the reasons leading to Kohler’s termination to discussion about the school board properly following policy and procedure.

At Monday night’s board meeting, three community members — Elizabeth Kirt, Aylin Lewallen and Sierra Fallon, the first two of which are members of the School Accountability Committee — spoke during the public comment period on a litany of alleged governance violations by the board, raising doubts about the legitimacy of Kohler’s termination. 

Allegations made

Kirt opened the public comment period by explaining the role of the School Accountability Committee. 

---

---

“What we are sharing tonight isn’t personal, and it isn’t about assigning blame. It is about ensuring proper process and proper accountability,” she said. “We are assigned by state statute, and here to help and ensure that our school has a functioning checks and balances system.” 

Although board members have maintained that Kohler’s dismissal was due to his alleged failure to comply with school policies, mounting evidence and community testimony suggest that the board itself may have disregarded key procedures and bylaws throughout the process.

---

---

This inconsistency has fueled doubt among some community members about the legality and fairness of the board’s actions, and has prompted renewed scrutiny over whether proper protocols were observed in removing Kohler from his position.

Kirt, Lewallen and Fallon shared the following alleged governance violations, distributed in hard-copy form to attendees, among others: 

• Conflict of interest: Bylaws require directors to recuse themselves and prohibit voting on matters affecting their own family members. Former Board Member Jeremiah Shaw’s involvement in the vote on Kohler’s termination, when his own child is alleged as a party in related infractions, was a direct violation under Article V, 5.2, according to parents.​
• Open meetings and executive session: The bylaws stipulate all regular and special meetings must be open, and if an employee requests an open meeting, it must be granted, per Article IV, 4.3. The October 31 sessions did not comply, as Kohler’s request for an open meeting was allegedly rejected.​
• Meeting notice and posting requirements: Board is required to publicly post written notice at least 7 days before any meeting detailing purpose, date, time and place (Article IV, 4.2). Parents alleged that this was not properly done for the Oct. 31 meetings, the Nov. 4 termination, and numerous recent special meetings, despite claims that notices are consistently posted, such as at the Clark Store.​
• Board composition and elections: Bylaws dictate one-fourth board rotation yearly and elections for new/renewing members every December (Articles II, 2.3 and 2.4). Parents alleged failure to conduct elections in December 2022–2024, which invalidates terms and arguably the authority of certain members to participate in votes such as the recent termination.​
• Officer re-elections: Officer positions must be re-elected every two years (Article III, 3.1), but parents alleged that minutes show these roles remained unchanged for as long as 4-5 years with no re-election votes on record.​
• Attendance: Directors failing to attend four consecutive meetings should be removed immediately, but parents alleged that there is no documentation of enforcement of this provision, and the board appears selective in addressing absences (Article II, 2.7).​
• Proxy vote: Only directors present — either in person or electronically — may participate (Articles IV, 4.5 and 4.7). Parents alleged that the proxy vote passed via Jenn Clements for Kohler’s termination directly violated these sections.​

“At no point during any School Accountability Committee meetings were we ever informed that Dan was on a disciplinary plan, experiencing performance issues, or facing any concerns in his role as Head of School,” said Kirt in a statement to the newspaper Thursday. “There was never any indication given to SAC members that a problem existed.”

The board’s response

In formal comments sent to the newspaper and reviewed by the board’s attorney, the board refuted the seven allegations.

The board denied any conflict of interest, stating Shaw’s daughter was not directly questioned or identified in the incident, and the termination was not based on a single vote involving Shaw.

The board also stated that meeting agendas and minutes were always posted according to policy. 

On the district’s website, minutes were posted for two meetings held on Oct. 31. In minutes of the Oct. 31 meeting, which commenced at 8 p.m., former Board President Kim Smith is noted as stating, “We are going into executive session even though it has not been 24 hours since the previous executive session it is deemed critical for a second meeting.”

However, no agenda for another Oct. 31 meeting was posted on the district’s website.

After the newspaper inquired about the missing agenda to Board Member Sara Strom on Monday, an agenda was posted for an Oct. 31, 6 a.m. meeting  — 18 days after the meeting, contradicting the district’s stated policy and Colorado state law.

“Open meetings are posted 7 days in advance and executive meetings are posted 48 hours in advance. This was done,” wrote Strom. “When Kim Smith was President of the Board, she posted publicly at the Clark Store. All regular meeting notices were posted 7 days in advance.”

“For the Oct. 31 6 a.m. executive meeting, there was public notice 48 hours in advance at the Clark Store. For the Oct. 31 8 p.m. executive meeting, there was only a 12 hour notice due to an emergency, which was approved as appropriate by the school’s attorney in light of the board’s bylaws,” she continued.

“After meeting minutes are approved, we send our agendas and approved meeting minutes to the NRCCS Administrative team for posting on the NRCCS website. They are then posted,” she added. “We do not control when or how they are posted.”

The procedures outlined by Strom seem to contradict those listed on the board’s district website, which states the following — “Meeting agendas will be posted on the NRCCS website and at the Clark Store no later than 24 hours prior to the meeting.”

Regarding the parents’ allegations that Kohler was denied a request for an open meeting, the board stated that he was not in attendance and was not required to be.

For the Nov. 4 meeting in which Kohler was terminated, “The Head of School was in attendance. He was given the opportunity to make the meeting an open or closed meeting … Dan Kohler chose to keep the meeting open. There was no executive session and meeting minutes were noted, and later approved and published by the Board.” 

The board maintained that allegations about improper rotation and elections are incorrect. They cite changes to bylaws in 2024 allowing June nominations to avoid mid-year transitions. 

“The Board … has no duty or need to fill its vacancies at this time despite demands to do so,” they wrote.

On officer elections, the board said meeting minutes show that re-elections did occur, refuting claims that officers were not re-elected every two years.​

The board noted that there is no evidence that any director missed four consecutive meetings, as required for removal. 

“Note that people often attended via Zoom if they were unavailable to attend in person, which is appropriate pursuant to the Bylaws,” they wrote.

Finally, on the alleged unlawful proxy vote, the board did not clarify whether the proxy vote was indeed lawful, but emphasized termination only requires a majority vote, not a full consensus. 

“Termination of the Head of School may be done by majority vote,” the board wrote. “Board Member Jennifer Clements was out of the country on 11/4/25, though she provided her opinions and participated in the decision of termination prior to 11/4/25 at the 10/31/25 meetings. Her vote was not necessary for termination.”​

Shaw resignation and statements from North Routt community members

The 4:30 p.m. meeting on Monday came just three hours after the board sent a letter to NRCCS community members announcing the resignation of Jeremiah Shaw, whose child was allegedly involved in one of the cited infractions that led to Kohler’s removal. 

“Jeremiah Shaw has submitted his resignation from the board effective immediately, citing personal reasons for making this very difficult decision,” the board wrote in the letter. “He has expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to serve NRCCS, and we appreciate his years of service to our school.” 

Shaw’s decision made him the fourth board member to resign in less than a week in the wake of Kohler’s firing, following President Kim Smith, Secretary Jenn Clements and Treasurer Elizabeth Wegner.

Shaw did not respond to requests for comment from the newspaper regarding his resignation. 

Clements gave a statement to the newspaper on Friday, saying in part that she wanted to be “really clear, no one has ever questioned that Dan is not a wonderful guy … He is a wonderful person. He is also a wonderful teacher,” she said. “I think the problem is he wasn’t super well-equipped to be a wonderful head of school … Those are different jobs and require different skills.”

Parent Brandon Stone also sent a statement to the newspaper on Friday. 

“It is important to recognize that the role of a Head of School or Executive Director is fundamentally different from that of a teacher,” said Stone in the statement, noting his support of the board’s decision. “It is the director’s responsibility to know, follow and implement policy.” 

In a statement, parent Alex Pallut Mathisen provided additional background.

“Our school has been through a lot in the last 5+ years. (The COVID-19 pandemic) created a lot of division and we have worked hard to rebuild community,” she said.

“We have struggled with parent involvement over the years,” added Mathisen, who, like Stone, expressed support for the board. “It is my understanding that several of the board members have remained on the board due to a lack of applicants.”

Per an email from Smith to a board applicant, the newspaper confirmed that at least five people applied to be on the board over this past summer.

Former board member Victoria Klohr, who has three children at the school, shared a statement on Monday regarding what she viewed as unjust removal from the board in March 2024 for her frequent attendance of board meetings through Zoom and occasional lack of attendance, both of which are permitted by the board’s bylaws.

According to Klohr, several days prior to the March 11, 2024 meeting where board members voted unanimously for her removal, Smith and Board President Sarah Barr (who served as the board’s vice president at the time) met with Klohr to let her know they had met with other board members individually and agreed to remove her. 

“The first time I disagreed with a maneuver the entire board intended to impose on the North Routt community was the last time I was permitted to address the board as a member,” said Klohr.

“I was told countless times, ‘Your perspective, your willingness and your directness are a breath of fresh air,'” added Klohr, an indigenous woman. “And I found that to be true, until the fresh air was blasted at them, and then they didn’t like it so much.”

Katrina Wellman-Machut, a district teacher who taught at NRCCS for 14 years, also provided a statement, explaining that she applied for the board this summer and was told that they selected two candidates with experience in law and finance — Strom and Susan Boles, respectively.

“I have found out that those who knew I applied were told by the board I declined the position, and those who did not know were told by the board a teacher never applied,” said Wellman-Machut.

“During my interview I mentioned that Daniel Kohler and I had a longstanding positive professional working relationship,” she continued. “In light of all that has occurred I now question if that had an impact on me not being selected, and the integrity of said board.”

“I understand them going with somebody else, and they needed to fit their needs,” she added, “but I don’t understand why there’s lies about it.”

Kirt also shared emails documenting that she applied to the board in the summer of 2022. She reached out to Smith after not hearing back, to which Smith responded that she did not get Kirt’s information, but encouraged her to apply again. 

Kirt followed up in May 2023, and Smith informed her that board positions were filled, but requested her resume for consideration for future open positions. Kirt sent a copy of her resume and said she did not hear back from Smith. 

This past summer, Kirt applied a second time, interviewed for the position and was declined, but was encouraged again to apply in the future. 

While the board did not necessarily violate their bylaws, neither with Klohr’s removal — as “any director may be removed as a director, with or without cause, by the vote of a majority of the directors then in office” — nor with their alleged misrepresentation of Wellman-Machut’s application, the previous statements, as well as emails between Kirt and Smith, raise questions as to the board’s publicly stated claims that they have received little interest in folks serving on the board. 

At the Monday meeting, the board also swore in new officers, with Barr elected as president, Boles elected as vice-president, and Strom elected dually as secretary and treasurer. 

Susie Wyman, a local resident and retired teacher, was also sworn into office. Wyman was elected to the board at their September monthly meeting to fill the position of a planned resignee, later identified as Clements. 

On Monday evening, Clark resident Christy Bubenheim created a GoFundMe donation page for Kohler and his family to support “rent, food and monthly bills” following his removal, with a goal set of $7,500.

As of Thursday afternoon, the fundraiser had collected $5,563 from 20 donations.