Tag Archives: Aaron Salt

WPSD hires new MS/HS principal for ’24-25 school year

The district has hired a new principal for the combined middle school / high school (grades 7-12) for next school year (’24-25). They chose Dr. Tory Richey, who is currently principal of The Home School Academy in D20. As its name suggests, that school “supports home school families with weekly enrichment (non-academic) programs.” Its enrollment focuses on lower grades; there are currently 173 7-12th graders enrolled there (599 total students). Exactly what makes him a great choice to lead Woodland Park’s combined MS/HS, with 789 students this year, is unclear. Note that Aaron Salt, the Woodland Park School District’s HR director, is also the president of the board in D20, where Richey currently works.

Here’s the press release:

Dear WPSD Families,

We are thrilled to announce the appointment of Dr. Tory Richey as the Secondary Campus Principal over Woodland Park Middle and High Schools, effective July 1, 2024. Dr. Richey brings a wealth of experience and dedication to education, and we are confident he will be an excellent addition to our Woodland Park Schools community.

What makes this announcement even more special is that Dr. Richey is an alum of WPHS. Also, you may remember him as he previously served as an assistant principal at WPHS from 2006 to 2009. After his time at WPHS, Dr. Richey continued to expand his career and expertise in education, including serving as the Cripple Creek Junior Senior High School Secondary Principal (2014-2016), Assistant Superintendent/Secondary Principal (2016-2018), and Superintendent/K-12 Principal (2018-2020) before taking his current role as principal at Home School Academy in Colorado Springs.

Dr. Richey is eager to reconnect with familiar faces and meet new members of our staff and families. In his enthusiasm to get to know everyone, he has expressed his intention to start working on these introductions as soon as possible. Although his official start date is July 1, 2024, he wants to ensure a smooth transition and build strong connections within our community.

Returning to Woodland Park holds a special place in Dr. Richey’s heart, as his parents still reside here. He is excited to contribute to the success and growth of our great Woodland Park Middle and High Schools and serve the wonderful community that has always been close to him.

We look forward to a bright future under Dr. Richey’s leadership and invite you to join us in welcoming him back to the Woodland Park School District.

Witt plans to hire Aaron Salt as COO(rumor or fact?)

There’s been a rumor floating around that seems to be true – so take this for what it is, an confirmed rumor at this point – but it looks like Ken Witt is hiring Aaron Salt into a senior level position in the district. I’ve had more than one source confirm this, though there has been no district announcement yet. It’s not clear if that will be a new COO position, or the the existing vacancy created by Del Garrick’s departure (Executive Director of Business Operations). But let’s ignore the title for a minute…who is Aaron Salt?

Let’s start with his LinkedIn Bio. He labels himself as a consultant who will ‘help you solve employee turnover problems.’ Sadly, that seems applicable to our district (though I don’t think we need a consultant to tell us how to retain employees here).

Salt goes on to describe his focus on what I think we could summarize as restructuring an organization. All this is sounding very business like and potentially even beneficial to any organization. But what motivates him…what is his focus? Let’s look at his volunteer work to gain some insight there.

Salt believes in parent choice, and that “what and how our students are taught” will determine the direction of the company. He was a founding board member for New Summit Charter Academy, and served as board chair until September 2021 (link).

About a year ago, in February of 2022, Salt was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the Pikes Peak Library District (PPLD) and is currently the president of that board. He was previously rejected due to not getting two thirds of the vote, but the new city council voted him in 6-3.

Salt told Council last fall, according to The Gazette, that he wanted to remove certain materials from the juvenile and children’s sections that he found objectionable.

https://www.csindy.com/news/council-appoints-two-conservatives-to-ppld-board/article_8c8b7d80-8ea9-11ec-8fbd-b34ca28380b2.html

Days after the vote on Salt, PPLD Chief Librarian and CEO John Spears resigned, and gave this statement to local media:

“The process surrounding how these appointments occurred was extremely contentious and pointed to the changes that are happening in our community such as the recent school board elections.  It is my hope that the values that define a library such as freedom of expression, freedom of thought, and freedom of speech will continue to be honored. I look forward to moving to a community where they are not under threat.”

https://www.csindy.com/news/local/updated-pikes-peak-library-district-chief-resigns/article_e4424658-90de-11ec-8f97-abfd676a0302.html

Also:

Councilor Nancy Henjum called the appointments “concerning” and may undermine the library’s core values of accessibility, inclusivity and First Amendment protections, she said.

https://www.csindy.com/news/local/updated-pikes-peak-library-district-chief-resigns/article_e4424658-90de-11ec-8f97-abfd676a0302.html

In 2021, in a school board election campaign that saw dramatic increases in ‘dark money’ donations, voters elected Salt to the District 20 (D20) school board. That link above mentions that, “Salt is against mandatory masks and vaccines, hiring an equity director, and CRT and other anti-american rhetoric/indoctrination.” In the spring of 2022, Salt attended the evangelical Christian ‘Hold the Line’ event in Colorado Springs. From an article linked to below:

Someone who attended the “Hold The Line” event, who wishes to remain anonymous, provided 13 Investigates with a video of what was said on stage. The video shows Salt being introduced as an Academy School District 20 Board Director before speaking, making it clear who he is in the community.  

In the video, Salt described his time on the D20 board as a fight to represent his own values and asked people to pray for board members trying to hold onto Christian values. 

“This is a spiritual battle,” Salt said. “Make sure that we’re covered in fairness, we go into fight for you and for your children.”

https://krdo.com/news/2022/05/27/d20-board-director-describes-tenure-on-school-board-as-a-spiritual-battle-at-christian-event/

Prior to that event, Salt triggered some complaints about the separation of church and state when he read this quote from Benjamin Franklin in a board meeting:

A Bible and newspaper in every house, a good school in every district – all studied and appreciated as they merit – are the principal support of virtue, morality, and civil liberty

Benjamin Franklin

And naturally…Aaron Salt is connected to Brad Miller, in this case through (at a minimum) their shared time at New Summit Charter Academy.

Lastly, Salt is connected to Charis and Wommack via the Truth and Liberty Coalition which helped back his D20 election campaign.

So there you have it. His start date is not yet known, but at least now you know a little more about Aaron Salt.