This weekend, approximately 30 school board members, activists, and engaged citizens attended the Leadership Institute’s School Board and Education Policy
— Read on coloradotimesrecorder.com/2023/11/leadership-institute-training-action-items-for-newly-conservative-school-boards/57888/
11/12/2023 Weekly Update
Last week:
- This was of course the big election week. After around six months of campaigning, Seth Bryant, Mike Knott, and Keegan Barkley faced maybe the worse part, waiting for results. The evening started out on a positive note with all three ahead by small margins, though the last update of the day, shortly before Midnight, showed that only Keegan held her lead. Both Mike and Seth were trailing. Another update Thursday afternoon increased the deficit a small amount. The gap is close enough that we need to see how the ballot curing process goes, and how many mail-in military ballots may yet be received. Read more about the election at:
- Wednesday’s board meeting was uneventful and quick. With Illingworth training Keegan Barkley by quite a bit, he took advantage of the opportunity to say goodbye to the board.
Here’s what’s coming up this week:
- The county clerk is working on curing ballots (contacting people where a ballot was rejected for some reason), and there could still be some mail-in military ballots on the way. Both of those have until either 11/15 or 11/16 to be completed. Once that’s done, if either matches have less than a .5% margin of victory, an automatic recount will be triggered. Otherwise, we can expect the winners of the school board race to be announced.
- The Ute Pass BOCES is putting on an informational meeting for parents, about special ed in the district. This Wednesday, 6PM, at the Ute Pass Cultural Center.
- Even if Bates and Kimbrell hold on to their seats, there is some reason for optimism. Ken Witt’s contract is up next June, and I’m already hearing rumors from other front range districts that he’s likely to leave this town and join one of those larger districts.
Conservative school board candidates lose ground on culture war issues
Liberal and moderate school board candidates claimed victory in this week’s elections, wresting majority control from Republicans in some swing suburban districts.
— Read on www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/conservative-school-board-candidates-lose-ground-culture-war-rcna124299
Ute Pass BOCES Parent Academy
The Ute Pass BOCES (no relation to ERBOCES) is hosting a parents academy for special education information next Wednesday, November 15th, from 6-7PM in the Ute Pass Cultural Center. With SO many special education job openings in the district, parents with special needs kids should try to attend this. There is a call-in option for those who can’t attend in person, either via Google Meet or phone at 402-971-0167 and PIN: 779 445 855#.
Experts sound alarm over concerning ‘propaganda’ found in public school curriculum: ‘It’s evil more than it is stupid’
The Florida Department of Education has approved screening videos that deny the Earth’s changing climate to schoolchildren in the state,
— Read on www.thecooldown.com/green-business/prageru-climate-denial-videos-florida-school/
coming soon to Woodland Park?
DAVIS: A Split Decision in School Districts Statewide
The floor of the Ute Pass Cultural Center quaked in time with the bass drum on Tuesday night as hundreds of Woodland Park citizens crowded into the room
— Read on coloradotimesrecorder.com/2023/11/davis-a-split-decision-in-school-districts-statewide/57845/
Colorado school board races mostly a mixed bag, but teachers union says voters rejected extremism | Colorado Public Radio
Political consultant says no overriding narrative, but agrees that voters said they want politics out of the classroom.
— Read on www.cpr.org/2023/11/08/colorado-school-board-races-mostly-a-mixed-bag-but-teachers-union-says-voters-rejected-extremism/
11/8/2023 – Election Update
Yesterday’s election was tense. Most of us went to bed thinking the last update of the evening was that the three challengers all had small leads over the incumbents. A late night update at 11:06 flipped that though, showing Mick Bates leading Seth Bryant by 43 votes (4,596 to 4,553) and Cassie Kimbrell leading Mike Knott by 55 votes (4,596 to 4,541). Keegan Barkley maintains her lead over David Illingworth (4,683 to 4,444), though that lead has shrunk to 239 votes (see full results here). Teller County says, on their website, that “all eligible ballots have been received and counted.”
Given the small margins, the next step will be to wait for any ballots to be cured (like if they’re rejected due to signature mismatch). Then, as I understand the law, an automatic recount is triggered if the gap is .5% or less (Seth meets that threshold, Mike does not).
Election Day!
It’s Election Day! In 2021, there were 7,233 votes cast for school board, out of 15,778 eligible to vote for that. I don’t know how many eligible voters are in the district this year but expect a similar number, and I expect higher turnout than 2021 (45.84%). But this is a sort of baseline, so as votes are announced starting at 7PM, you’ll have a sense of if most of the votes have been counted yet (nothing will be announced prior to 7PM).
Every 15 minutes after polls close, the Colorado Secretary of State’s website will be updating this file, assuming the county has provided new information. The SOS’ main election results page is here with additional links to statewide elections. Teller County’s election page is here, though already they’re not updating it with total votes counted (last update was Friday), so I think the Secretary of State’s website is likely to be the best source. Also note that Teller County’s website shows there are a total of 19,763 eligible voters – that’s in the entire county, but many of those do not live in the Woodland Park RE-2 school district (in 2021, there were 21,863 eligible voters, so 72% lived in RE-2).
The voting service center is open 7-7 today at the Woodland Park Library, for in person voting or ballot drop-off.
On the Eve of Election Day — Ben Honeycutt
My name is Ben Honeycutt. I became a teacher because I was driven to be someone who could be there every day for my students. I taught at Woodland Park Middle School (WPMS) for five years.
— Read on benhoneycutt.com/journals/on-the-eve-of-election-day