Douglas County’s newly elected school board directors have stirred opposition to the Educational Equity Policy (EEP) for political advantage, appearing on Fox News to falsely call it Critical Race Theory. Community stakeholders collaborated on the EEP over two years. It directs the district to develop “inclusive culture to ensure all students, staff, and community members feel safe and valued by increasing and embedding authentic and relevant learning opportunities and experiences involving inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility.” Even though the inclusive culture benefits all students, our new Directors have taken the advice of a national political group called FAIR and have directed staff to develop their own alternative policy.
The evidence is clear that the EEP, as written, is imperative; in the last two years, a high school was tagged with the “n word,” a school board director endured racial slurs and physical aggression, and Colorado Community Media documented students’ experiences with racism in school. An anti-Muslim hate group is active in Highlands Ranch, and Colorado is third in the nation for youth-targeted white supremacist propaganda.
Enough. We all agree our kids need to feel safe at school in order to thrive academically. Let’s trust our educators to effectively implement the EEP in line with our DCSD Strategic Plan. Let’s not cede local control to outside political operatives, again. Please let your BoE directors know that you support the original Educational Equity Policy.
Molly Gustafson
Kallie Leyba
Highlands Ranch