Woodland Park teachers speak out against current leadership; superintendent responds
WOODLAND PARK, Colo. (KRDO) - Controversy over the Woodland Park School District's teaching standards is nothing new.
Thursday night, dozens of former and current teachers and staff in the Woodland Park School District came together to address concerns over the "drastic changes" that have been made within the district.
Teachers told KRDO that the school board has adopted "controversial" and "state-unapproved American Birthright Standards" making Woodland Park the first school district in the nation to adopt these standards.
The standard’s main principle is to teach K-12th grade students about the ideals, institutions, and individual examples of human liberty, individualism, religious freedom, and republican self-government; assess the extent to which civilizations have fulfilled these ideals; and describe how the evolution of these ideals in different times and places has contributed to the formation of modern American ideals, according to the organizations website.
"If a kid goes all the way through the school with the American Birthright Standards, I don't believe they'll be able to access an AP curriculum fast by the time they get to high school, or be able to have those courses recognized as they try to move on to whatever future they want to do," said Anna Hand, a Woodland Park middle school teacher.
They also said the board chose not to renew $1.2 million in grant funding, which had previously been used to support student mental health services.
The superintendent of the Woodland Park School District said in his statement he released today that the district did indeed decline some money.
"Yes, we declined some money earmarked for mental health services, which are often utilized for gender confusion and sexual identity matters instead of the sort of counseling and character development that our schools ought to pursue. We are returning to pre-COVID norms, focusing on teaching academics rather than loading the system with so many social workers and mental health practitioners that little time is left for learning. We have a counselor in every school and teachers who are trusted adults and watchful for students needing additional support. We also forged a new partnership with Mindsight this year to ensure we have all mental health support needed."
Ken Witt, Superintendent
Woodland Park School District
About one hundred community members came out to support the teachers. One grandparent, Loarraine Merl, said her granddaughter goes to Woodland Park Middle School. She said she goes to every school board meeting to support her. But, when she asks questions at these meetings she feels ignored.
"They have personally bullied me. You know, being a grandparent I stand up, I ask some questions and they will bully me and put me right down," said Merl.
In response to these concerns the Woodland Park school District's Superintendent issued a statement Thursday evening in response to the teacher's press conference. You can read that statement at the link below.
