Montrose School Board Votes 7-0

to Dismiss Superintendent Stephenson

The Montrose County School District RE-1J Board of Education voted unanimously Monday night to dismiss Superintendent Dr. Carrie Stephenson. All seven directors voted in favor.

The special session was held August 24, 2026. A recording of the meeting is available at youtube.com/live/reCW1fARk28.

The board did not release a public account of the specific findings that led to the dismissal. Directors cited confidentiality rules that govern employee personnel files. What they did say is that the vote followed a long, detailed, and far-reaching investigation. In the same session the board extended Dr. Jessica Kalb’s interim status while it searches for a permanent replacement.

A decision months in the making

Monday’s 7-0 vote closed a process that began in the spring, not a snap judgment. On April 29 the same board considered placing Stephenson on paid leave after employee complaints connected to Olathe Elementary School and Principal Jennifer Hesse. The board voted 4-3 that night to take Stephenson’s leave off the table. Jody Hovde, Tiffany Vincent, Shane Daly, and Tom West voted to wait. Neisha Balleck, Scott Scarborough, and Ted Valerio wanted the item left open. Hesse was placed on paid leave unanimously and later resigned. The board also paused any plan to close Pomona or Northside Elementary, saying the enrollment and budget data were not ready.

That April result mattered. Four members refused to move against the superintendent before more information was in. The later unanimous vote is easier to read against that record. Members who first said no to leave later joined members who had wanted faster action. The board did not stay split along the same lines once the investigation was finished.

New reports after the May 21 staff meeting

A third-party investigation was already running when Stephenson met with Olathe staff on May 21. Board President Neisha Balleck said she then received reports that the meeting had intimidated employees and could interfere with the inquiry. Those reports prompted the June 2 special meeting. The question before the board that night was still leave, not dismissal.

June 2: paid leave, not a final call

On June 2 the board voted 4-3 to place Stephenson on paid, non-punitive, non-disciplinary leave effective June 3. Balleck, Scarborough, Valerio, and Vincent voted yes. Hovde, West, and Daly voted no. Vincent had voted in April to keep Stephenson on the job. She changed her position after the May reports, describing leave as a way to keep people separated while the investigation continued.

Stephenson spoke in open session, denied intimidating or threatening staff, and filed a formal grievance against the board. She received a standing ovation from some in the room. The board still chose leave rather than termination. It named Kalb, then executive director of academic services, as acting superintendent so the district would have a working chain of command through the end of the school year and into summer. Balleck told families the board could not share personnel details and would update the public when the law allowed.

School opened with the question still open

The investigation continued through the summer. On August 11, with the new semester starting, the board left Stephenson’s status unchanged after a long executive session. Local coverage described that night as an extension of the status quo, not a firing. Kalb kept day-to-day operations moving. That August meeting is another marker of delay. The board had the votes in June to put her on leave. It did not convert that leave into dismissal until the investigation had run its course.

What Monday night settled

Monday’s special session ended the waiting. Every member voted to dismiss Stephenson, including the three who opposed leave in June and the four who had blocked leave in April. A unanimous personnel vote after months of split tallies is uncommon. It is the clearest public signal that the finished investigation, not a pre-set majority, is what the board says it relied on.

The board also extended Kalb as interim superintendent and authorized a search for a permanent successor. Kalb has worked in the district for years and has been running operations since June 3. Keeping her in place avoids a second leadership gap while the search begins.

Limits on what can be said

Colorado law and district policy restrict what a school board may publish about an employee’s personnel file. The board’s public statement Monday stayed inside that limit. Directors pointed to the completed investigation and did not itemize allegations, witness names, or investigator conclusions. That silence will frustrate people who want a full airing. It is also the same constraint the board cited in June, when Balleck said there were “limits to the information that can be shared regarding personnel matters.”

Stephenson is a Montrose High School graduate who spent more than 30 years in education as a teacher, principal, and central-office leader before becoming superintendent. Her departure now leaves the district under interim leadership as the 2026-27 year is underway.

The recorded vote, the investigation the board cited, Kalb’s continued interim role, and the search for a replacement are the facts the board put on the public record Monday night. The meeting video is the official record of how those motions were put and how all seven directors voted.