Cherry Creek Schools has fired chief human resources officer Brenda Smith after an investigation found what the Board of Education termed “significant policy violations.”
The school district announced the decision on Friday, saying that Cherry Creek had finished its monthslong investigation into Brenda Smith, the wife of former Superintendent Christopher Smith.
“Ms. Smith will not be offered a contract for the 2026-27 school year,” the district’s board said in a statement. “Based on the personnel investigation, significant policy violations occurred. We will not be paying out any of the additional benefits as this is a for-cause termination.”
Tony Leffert, an attorney for Brenda and Christopher Smith, declined to comment on the decision.
Cherry Creek officials’ announcement comes during a period of upheaval for Colorado’s fourth-largest district, which saw former Christopher Smith unexpectedly resign at the end of January. Cherry Creek placed Brenda Smith on administrative leave on Feb. 2 and froze employee travel in the wake of her husband’s resignation.
The district has been investigating the Smiths’ ties to a company called Education Accelerated, including whether paid international travel influenced their decision to award the company nearly $3 million in contracts.
The district agreed to pay Christopher Smith nearly $164,000 in vacation and sick leave following his resignation, as required by his contract. He did not receive any severance “beyond contractual obligations,” the district said in an earlier statement.
The board’s announcement Friday did not provide details about the investigation’s findings. Brenda Smith, who was hired in 2019, received a $232,142.40 salary.
Brenda Smith was hired before her husband was named superintendent in 2021. After the school board hired Christopher Smith, his wife began reporting to a deputy superintendent to comply with the district’s staff conduct policy, according to a 2022 district memo.
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Staff writer Katie Langford contributed to this story.
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