The members of the Douglas County school board’s conservative majority ended their terms Tuesday night much as they began: by embracing the education culture wars that propelled them into office four years ago.
During their final public meeting, the four directors discussed whether the should ban transgender athletes from participating in girls sports, with outgoing President Christy Williams expressing her hope that the next board would implement such a policy.
The board also narrowly failed to adopt a measure that would have extended charter school contracts by 10 years before the new board members are sworn in next month.
“I believe that we have a duty to protect young women in our schools,” Williams said of the proposed transgender athlete policy. “This includes their right to compete on a fair playing field and access safe, sex-specific spaces, like locker rooms and overnight accommodations.
“The state of Colorado and (the ) implemented policies that actively discriminate against female athletes by allowing biological males to compete in girls sports and access private spaces,” she added.
Williams said during the meeting that she added a draft of a policy called “” to the meeting’s agenda to show an example of a measure the district could implement. The draft was a copy of in El Paso County earlier this year.
The policy would ban transgender students from participating in sports that correspond with their gender identities. This means transgender girls can’t participate in girls sports or use their locker rooms. The policy also prevents transgender girls from sharing hotel rooms with other female students.
CHSAA has left it up to schools and districts to decide whether to allow transgender athletes to participate in sports, citing conflicting directives from the state and federal governments.
“It is too bad that this policy probably will end after this meeting and not continue forward in some form or another,” outgoing board member Kaylee Winegar said.
Tuesday’s meeting was the last scheduled for the members of the board’s conservative majority — Williams, Winegar, Tim Moore and Becky Myers — who did not seek re-election. Williams, Myers and Winegar were elected in 2021 along with former board president Mike Peterson, who resigned two years ago.
The majority became known for controversial policies soon after their election, including the firing of the district’s superintendent and diluting the district’s equity policy.
The seven-member board’s majority will flip next month after voters selected four candidates backed by the teachers union in last week’s election, forgoing a conservative slate that was more aligned with the four outgoing directors. The new school board members will be sworn in Dec. 2.
Bid to lengthen charter school contracts
The school board also voted on a policy that would have instead of five years, but the measure failed.
Charters are public schools authorized by local school districts, but can operate with more autonomy than district-run schools.
Moore was the deciding “no” vote. He had asked the board to go into executive session — which is closed to the public — to obtain legal advice about the measure, but failed to get enough votes.
Three members of the board’s political minority — Brad Geiger, Susan Meek and Valerie Thompson — expressed concern about the charter extension, including whether it violates state law, and that the agenda was changed to schedule a vote on the resolution when board members had initially only expected an informational session on the measure.
“What I’m worried about is that we’ve now got a community thatap elevated and divided over this,” Thompson said. “…(T)hen a new board’s gonna come in and then what happens? It gets killed?”
Myers, one of the outgoing directors, expressed concern that the newly elected board members won’t be friendly to the districtap charter schools.
“Itap not rare to have a 10-year extension. I’m not in opposition to that,” she said. “And no, we weren’t behind the scenes trying to throw something up here for our last hoorah before we walked out the doors.”
Future of transgender athlete policy unclear
Whether the Douglas County school board will adopt a transgender athlete ban remains to be seen.
The candidates who won the election — Kyrzia Parker, Tony Ryan, Clark Callahan and Kelly Denzler — are considered more progressive than those leaving the board.
The three board members who remain on the board said they opposed a ban on transgender athletes.
“I simply do not agree that allowing a tiny number of trans kids — and in Douglas County, I think, it’s zero trans kids — to compete in athletics puts them at risk,” Geiger said.
Some parents and community members said during public comment that the board members’ decision to vote on the charter school resolution and discuss the transgender athlete ban ignored this month’s election results.
“This policy targets vulnerable students and creates enforcement problems all while the real issues go unaddressed,” parent Katie Burton said during the meeting about the transgender athlete policy. “It’s a solution in search of a problem that doesn’t exist in our schools.”
Laureen Boll, a chapter leader with Douglas County’s Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism, said the district is “prioritizing the feelings of boys who believe that they are girls.” She described — without proof — scenes of boys peeking at girls in bath stalls and said girls no longer want to play sports because boys are in their locker rooms.
“This is unacceptable and how must these girls feel?” Boll said during public comment. “They don’t see any adults other than their parents demanding their right to fairness, privacy and safety.”
‘Rhetoric that lowers athletic standards’
The draft of the transgender athlete policy shared by Williams only recognizes two genders: biological males and biological females.
“I genuinely hope that this board continues these conversations and moves forward with trying to preserve fairness and safety in sports,” she said.
Thompson pushed back on the policy’s language that says “boys are born with significant inherent advantages” and have “a substantial competitive advantage over most girls.”
“I personally reject rhetoric that lowers athletic standards for girls by labeling they are fragile,” she said.
The draft policy shared by Williams cites President Donald Trump’s from participating in girls’ and women’s sports. The Trump administration has also targeted K-12 districts, including Denver Public Schools, by threatening to pull federal funding for having gender-neutral bathrooms.
District 49, which has more than 10,000 students, sued CHSAA and Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser earlier this year in an effort to overturn state law that district officials say prevents them from enacting their transgender athlete ban.
“I’ve had trans kids in classrooms. I’ve had gay kids. I’ve had gay friends and I would never think to treat them any other way except as a human being,” Myers said. “Our other kids — especially girls in locker rooms, in sports — have been afraid to speak out because… it’s uncomfortable.”
