HB24-1039, recently signed into law by Governor Polis, requires schools to abide by a student’s wish to be called a name which may be different from their legal name but reflects their gender identity. Or to look at it another way, it advances LGBTQ+ rights for students.

Not surprisingly, Ken Witt, Brad Miller, and their allies in the Woodland Park school board freaked out and at the 5/8 board meeting, issued a resolution which, well, doesn’t do much more than state the obvious, that they are required to draft a policy that complies with the law. Their resolution can be read below (I cut out the signature section just to save space here):

Note point 2 in the resolution though, notification of parents. This is similar to the unwritten currently policy, explained to staff last August by board attorney and conservative education reform activist Brad Miller. Board director Barkley asked some excellent questions in the board meeting about this point, expressing concern about how that information would be communicated and that it would be best done in person with a counselor present. It remains to be seen whether the policy ultimately includes this.

As the board discussed this resolution, director David Rusterholtz, not present but calling in remotely, launched into a pretty offensive tirade about parent and even teacher rights in these cases, totally dismissing the rights of the young adults facing these decisions (you can listen to that here).

Following the meeting, Superintendent Ken Witt sent an email to districts across the state, seeking to rally support for his bigoted anti-LGBTQ+ position:

Kudos to Summit School District superintendent Tony Byrd for this well written response: