The school district has lost about 40% of its teachers, including mental health and social workers.
“I’m speaking because I believe it’s the right thing, and I teach my students to use their voices to say what they believe. I’m terrified,” Hand said.
Teachers who publicly criticize the board could be considered insubordinate because of a district policy, known as KDDA, that directs staff not to speak to the media without written consent from Superintendent Ken Witt. It also limits what can be posted to social media.
The state educators’ union and its Woodland Park chapter sued over that policy in August.
“There are many more [teachers] who would have signed, if not for being afraid,” Hand said.
10/8/2023 Weekly Update
I haven’t published weekly updates for a couple weeks now…because the school district has been pretty quiet, with all the focus on campaigns for the three out of five school board seats up for grabs. Here’s what’s been going on:
Last week(s):
- Here’s an update on the candidate forums. Note that WPHS were refused their request to hold a forum jointly organized and moderated by WPHS and Merit students.
- Here’s a timeline of events related to all these candidate forums.
- Thursday was a big day for teachers and staff in this district, with 81 of them signing a letter and many speaking out to media at an event at the Ute Pass Cultural Center. They’re doing this knowint’ it’s in violation of district policy and could get them fired (like what happened to Mary Ward last March). More covered at KKTV, Colorado Sun, Colorado Public Radio, KRDO, Fox21
- KKTV looked at school security in local districts. In Colorado Springs, they found districts willing to talk about the training their school security receive…in Woodland Park, they were met with silence and an unwieldiness to share any information.
- The Courier published some new letters to the editor (link, link, link)
- Contrary to what our board says, enrollment in our district is on the decline, and did not see any boost as claimed. Read the numbers here. The data for the current school year won’t be official for a few more weeks, but the latest numbers are already lower than original estimates from August.
- Here’s a summary of the fundraising results for all six candidates. Seth Bryant, Mike Knott, and Keegan Barkley are out-raising the incumbents, despite having a significantly smaller average donation size.
- The Colorado Sun featured an opinion piece about our district, written by Diane Carmen.
- Read this guest column from candidate Mike Knott.
Here’s what’s coming up this week:
- Monday, 10/9, is a busy day in town. There are two candidate forums (incumbents at Columbine at 6PM, challengers at the cultural center at 5:30PM), plus the Academic Awards Night at the High School (6PM).
- The last school board meeting before the election is this Wednesday, 10/11, at 6:00PM (read the agenda here). They’ve decided to hold this meeting in the district conference room, which only seats about 90 people. This means that if the 81 staff members who spoke out against this board want to attend this meeting, they won’t all be able to, there won’t be enough space. The only action item in the agenda is for the board to pick the members of the SAC and DAC committees.
Candidate Forums Update
So far, all six candidates have not agreed to appear in the same public forum…and we have more to share on that. First though, on Monday 10/2 the Victory Life Church (founded by a member of the board of Andrew Wommack Ministries, and who also teaches at Charis) held their candidate forum at the High School auditorium, moderated by state senator Baisley (who recently wrote a guest column in the Courier praising the three incumbents). Turnout was sparse, and the questions were focused on talking points we’ve heard plenty about already (especially LGBTQ+ issues). This picture was taken shortly after the event started.
Next up with the forums are the competing forums on 10/9…the one organized by the Chamber of Commerce being held at the Cultural Center, and the one organized by Ken Witt’s administration, being held in the Columbine Gymnasium. The gym, you ask? Why not the auditorium? Because the High School is holding its Academic Awards Night in the auditorium, having secured that venue long before the district decided to create their own forum.
Seth Bryant, Keegan Barkley, and Mike Knott all declined the invite to the district forum. Seth emailed expressing interest in that forum and asking if the date for the Columbine forum could be changed. One of their campaign managers reached out the district on behalf of all three candidates, seeking compromise on choice of moderator (the district’s choice, Peter Hilts, has close ties to Brad Miller and has previously acted as a paid consultant for this board). She suggested four possibilities and a willingness to entertain other ideas, but my CORA request yield zero replies to this offer, apart from acknowledgment of receipt. So, with the district not willing to compromise, and likewise not making any requests to the Chamber of Commerce regarding that forum, we’ll be seeing the three incumbents take the stage at Columbine on Monday (starting at 6:00), while Bryant, Barkley, and Knott attend the forum at the cultural center (starting at 5:30). Meanwhile, parents of students receiving academic awards will not be able to attend either forum, they’ll be at the awards night.
Once we get past these dueling forums, the next question becomes the student-led forums. Plural? Yeah. Merit Academy announced one on 10/17, one for which they were originally going to restrict attendance to Merit families only but have since opened up to all (though questions are still limited to those submitted by Merit families). Woodland Park High School students wanted to organize a similar forum, which would make sense as this school board oversees that school, not Merit Academy. However, the Woodland Park School District refused the request of their high school students to hold such an event. The WPHS students even reached out to Merit Academy seek joint participation, asking Merit students to help organize and moderate a joint event. Headmaster Gwynn Pekron refused that request.
‘We have to get in there and face the threat’: 11 Call For Action gets inside Colorado school resource officer programs
While CSPD and EPSO were open and transparent about their training and procedures surrounding their SRO programs, it was not the same for Woodland Park School District RE-2.
On Aug. 17, 2023, the district sent out a one-page letter to the community alerting parents that they would be adding armed security officers to serve as school resource officers there.
11 News requested through an open records request the training and certification documentation for those hired to provide this armed security.
In their note to the community, the district writes, “These dedicated professionals must have completed rigorous training programs from law enforcement or other specialized training.”
Our newsroom wanted to know if these officers were certified to use rifles, and since they are not sworn officers like the majority of other local SRO programs, 11 News also requested additional information from the district about how they handle the training and certification for these armed guards.
The district responded: “No records existed.”
— Read on www.kktv.com/2023/10/05/we-have-get-there-face-threat-11-call-action-gets-inside-colorado-school-resource-officer-programs/
DAVIS: This November’s School Board Elections Are More Important Than You Think
The most important school board races in Colorado this year are not on the Front Range, and are rarely in the press. They are tucked into high valleys
— Read on coloradotimesrecorder.com/2023/10/davis-this-novembers-school-board-elections-are-more-important-than-you-think/56745/
WPSD teachers ask for community input on changes | FOX21 News Colorado
(WOODLAND PARK, Colo.) — Teachers in Woodland Park are asking the community to take action against the Woodland Park School District (WSPD) school board. “I am deeply reluctant to speak, but I cannot stay silent,” said Anna Hand, a teacher at Woodland Park Middle School. In a press conference at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday afternoon, […]
— Read on www.fox21news.com/news/wpsd-teachers-ask-for-community-input-on-changes/
Woodland Park teachers speak out against current leadership; superintendent responds | KRDO
Woodland Park teachers speak out against current leadership; superintendent responds | KRDO
— Read on krdo.com/news/2023/10/05/woodland-park-teachers-speak-out-against-current-leadership-superintendent-responds/
Woodland Park teachers defy ban on speaking out publicly; allege district’s policies are harming students | Colorado Public Radio
Dozens of Woodland Park teachers spoke out at a press conference Thursday to ask district officials to restore mental health supports for children, reinstate state-approved social studies standards, and remove a gag order that prevents them from speaking about district matters publicly or risk losing their jobs.
— Read on www.cpr.org/2023/10/05/woodland-park-teachers-speak-out-against-district-policies/
Woodland Park teachers speak out against sweeping changes
More than 80 teachers signed a letter criticizing board members who pushed for a conservative curriculum and barred teachers from speaking out.
— Read on coloradosun.com/2023/10/05/woodland-park-teachers-urge-community-to-vote-out-conservative-board-that-made-sweeping-changes/
Former, current Woodland Park School District employees express concerns with school board
Current and former school employees are expressing some of their concerns with the actions of the Woodland Park School Board.
— Read on www.kktv.com/2023/10/05/watch-live-former-current-woodland-park-school-district-employees-express-concerns-with-school-board/