The Poudre School District in Fort Collins has removed its superintendent.

The school board met Wednesday night and voted 5-2 to buy out the contract of superintendent Don Unger.

Unger will be paid $300,000 for the two remaining years of his contract. Unger, a 10-year superintendent for the district, has been under heavy criticism for implementing a new administrative structural plan last spring that some board members said was implemented without consulting the board, the school administration or the teachers.

The plan, a move made in part to trim this year's district budget by more than $2 million, reassigned 16 administrative-level staff members and put more decision-making power in the hands of school principals, according to the Fort Collins Coloradoan. Some teachers, parents and teachers praised the move because it saved the jobs of 40 teachers.

Unger supporters showed up at the board meeting Thursday night to protest the move, saying that the situation will just get uglier, and threatening to remove the board members when they are up for re-election.