The candidate forum chaos continues, but with a little clarification. Yesterday, the Woodland Park School District sent this email out to parents:
Dear WPSD Families,
We want to inform you of an upcoming event – the School Board Candidate Forum on Monday, October 9, moderated by Peter Hilts. Mr. Hilts currently serves as Superintendent of District 49 in Falcon, CO, and provides consultation to education leaders around the state. This event offers a valuable opportunity to engage with the candidates running for our school board and gain insights into their visions for our schools.
Event Details:
Date: Monday, October 9
Time: 6-8 p.m.
Location: Columbine Elementary Gymnasium
During this forum, candidates will address your questions, share their perspectives, and discuss their plans for our school district.
Forum Format:
Questions solicited from the community will be reviewed to identify common themes, and a selection will be made by the moderator, ensuring their appropriateness for a 90-minute forum. The forum will be conducted in three 30-minute segments. Ballot opponents will be asked the same questions during their allotted 30-minute segment. The remaining 30 minutes are reserved for opening and closing statements.
How to Participate:
Your active participation is essential in making this event a success. To submit your questions for the candidates, click here or visit the homepage of our district website at wpsdk12.org.
We look forward to your presence at the School Board Candidate Forum on Monday, October 9 , from 6-8 p.m .
Thank you!
We learned the moderator selecting questions is Peter Hilts, the CEO of District 49 and a consultant the WPSD board hired to lead their retreat in Black Forest in the spring of last year. He helped Ken Witt and Brad Miller start up Colorado Digital BOCES (later becoming ERBOCES), and has worked with Brad Miller quite a bit apart from that, including in his current role at D49 where Brad Miller is the attorney (if you’re new to all this, Ken Witt is the Woodland Park superintendent, and Brad Miller was brought in by our current board to be our attorney).
Of course, it’s worth noting that this district candidate forum is at the same date and time as the one organized by the Chamber of Commerce (to be held in the Ute Pass Cultural Center). The district has not answered questions about why they chose this date/time, though it seems clear from their supporters on social media that they did not approve of the moderator of the Chamber event. Questions for the chamber event are drafted by a non-partisan group of Chamber members, and the audience is allowed to submit questions (direct attacks will not be allowed), so the moderator seems to have less influence here than at the district event (the moderator will not edit any questions).
The three challengers all posted statements about this to their Facebook pages today:
I am confirming my attendance at The Greater Woodland Park Chamber of Commerce candidate forum on October 9, 2023.
All candidates were asked to save the date of this forum back in June.
Two days after we received our official invite we were informed the district scheduled their own forum with a hand picked moderator on the same day and time.
Keegan Barkley, Seth Bryant and I reached out to the district in good faith to see if we could agree on a moderator for their forum but did not receive even a courtesy response. Total crickets from the incumbents.
I hope they will reconsider and attend this important event for our community.
Mike Knott
…
Disappointed but not surprised.
Disappointed in the decision to intentionally schedule a conflicting candidate forum with a moderator who is not a stakeholder in our community, but not surprised with the track record the district leadership has placing politics and personal agendas above the best interests of students and families in Woodland Park School District. Deliberately creating conflict instead of trying to negotiate or collaborate in the best interest of the community is not good leadership, it is not good public service.
In an effort to try and give the community a forum that would have all six candidates I requested a date change, I was met with silence. In an effort to get a moderator who understood the complexities of our community, I asked for an impartial local conservative and provided names for consideration, again silence. It was only after officially declining did the district publicize the event. I think it is shameful to use a position of power to deprive the community of the opportunity to compare and contrast the candidates.
I look forward to participating in a long-standing Chamber of Commerce forum for the elected officials of our community. My campaign was, as was the district and other candidates, notified in June to reserve the date. We confirmed upon receipt of my invitation and I will be honoring my commitment. I look forward to seeing you there.
Seth Bryant
…
I am excited to announce that I will be participating in the upcoming Chamber candidates forum! This is an incredible opportunity for the community to hear our plan for the future and have your remaining questions answered.
It is disheartening that the incumbents decided to hold their own forum at the same date and time, despite knowing about the Chamber event since this summer.
We reached out to the incumbents in an attempt to create one event where all 6 candidates could come together, but they were unwilling to even respond.
This is just another example of this board not listening to the will of the people and catering to their own personal agenda. We deserve better from our elected officials and it is time for a change!
True leadership and public service involves open and respectful dialogue. It is about working together for the betterment of our schools and community.
I am committed to being a school board member who listens, engages, and works tirelessly to represent YOUR interests. Together we can bring about the change Woodland Park actually needs!
Keegan Barkley
This is yet another example of how this current school board has fostered division in this community rather than unity and healing. If even one of those three gets reelected this November, we can see exactly what we’ll get…more of the same. Voters have a choice.