COLORADO SPRINGS — Academy District 20 (D-20) Superintendent Jinger Haberer was suddenly fired from her position last week by the D20 Board of Education for reasons that remain unclear.
The board held special meetings on May 12 and 13 to discuss “Superintendent performance evaluation” in closed-door Executive Sessions.
Then, during a May 14 board meeting, after another closed-door Executive Session pertaining to “legal advice regarding superintendent conduct and advice regarding superintendent contract and employment,” Haberer was fired.
In an online recording of the May 14 meeting posted online, Board Vice President Susan Payne begins speaking after the Executive Session.
“Superintendent Jinger Harberer is hereby served with the notice of discharge for good and just cause due to recent charges of insubordination, compromising the…district's attorney-client privileges by the unauthorized invitation, despite express instructions to the contrary to an undisclosed attendance of a person of interest in a special board meeting on May 7th, 2026,” Payne said.
Her statement also mentioned Haberer had “prior performance deficiencies and resistance to corrective measures.”
Haberer was then placed on administrative leave with benefits until a hearing before the board at a later date to be determined. A D-20 spokesperson said the hearing could be waived if Haberer chooses to do so.
There has been no additional information released about the details surrounding the termination. Messages to an email and number believed to be Haberer’s went unanswered. A call to Susan Payne was also unanswered. A D-20 spokesperson said only those in the executive session know who the “person of interest” was.
The May 7 special meeting mentioned by Susan Payne when firing Haberer is posted online. However, it, too, was a closed door Executive Session and no material details can be seen or heard.
Superintendent Haberer was present at that meeting and seen in the recording before and after the closed-door portion. That meeting was scheduled to discuss a personnel matter, though no other details were available.
Late Tuesday night, after Haberer’s dismissal on May 14, an email went out to the D-20 community, including parents and guardians.
“I am writing to share that the Board has unanimously determined that we do not have confidence in Mrs. Haberer’s leadership moving forward, and we will be parting ways, following a contractually allowable hearing,” said Board President Amy Shandy in the email.
On Tuesday this week, the board appointed Dr. Susan Field as the interim superintendent. Field is the current Assistant Superintendent for Learning Services within the district. She’s expected to serve in the role through the entirety of the 2026-27 school year, according to a district press release.
Education
Academy District 20 names Dr. Susan Field as interim superintendent
According to D-20, Haberer’s salary was $279,000 and her rolling two-year contract had recently been renewed until June 30, 2028.
Many people online and viewers who wrote to the newsroom complained that taxpayers now have to pay a large portion of Haberer’s contract.
However, a D-20 spokesperson said that isn’t necessarily the case and is not true for the time being.
Since Haberer’s contract ended under termination for cause, she will not get paid out as long as she agrees to move forward without a fight.
If she does challenge the firing, there could be mediation and money paid out. Further details on that process should surface in the next couple of weeks, the spokesperson said.
In an apparently now-deleted line on the D-20 superintendent web page, the district noted they anticipate beginning a search to fill the role “in the near future.”
With the interim appointment of Dr. Field for a full school year, the district has given itself plenty of time for the process.
Haberer first came on board in July 2023. She took over the D-20 role after serving in the same position for the Ellensburg School District in Washington State.
Local media from the area indicated Haberer received a vote of no confidence from the Ellensburg Education Association (EEA) in 2022. The EEA is a local teacher union. Apparent reasons related to large-scale changes to school start and end times, attendance zones, and widespread confusion from teachers on other policies.
The D-20 superintendent position oversees 39 schools and well over 26,000 students, according to the Colorado Department of Education (DOE).
Based on superintendent pay scales posted by the DOE, the D-20 superintendent position cracks the top 20 for the highest-paid superintendents in the state as of last school year.
The next regularly scheduled D-20 Board of Education meeting is scheduled for June 11.
Email Senior Reporter Brett Forrest at brett.forrest@koaa.com. Follow or message @brettforrestTV on X and Brett Forrest News on Facebook.
Brett can also communicate via encrypted apps like Signal. Due to the sensitive nature of ongoing reporting from federal actions, he is willing to take steps to protect identities.
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