I know that this is a lengthy report, but the meeting had many important issues to discuss, and the more people are aware of the issues then maybe more people will get involved and be part of making TSD a great place to work and to learn!
Public Comment
The meeting started with over an hour of public comment supporting cross country coach Colleen Torres who is at LHS. While you may think that the Board is kept informed of everything that happens, I can tell you that often we don’t know about an issue until a parent or community member contacts us.
Because this is a personnel issue, I am going to refrain from making any public statements until more information is made available to board members. What I can do is recommend that you listen to the comments from the meeting which include Collen Torres making a personal statement. Click here for video of meeting
Time Stamps:
- Public comment starts at 24:16
- Petition started by Janine? With over 800 Signatures 43:20
- Ryan Wilcken 45:26
- Ann Bradbury 48:57
- Frank Torres (Colleen’s husband) 51:39
- Collen Torres 58:12
- Recommend listening to all the comments
Transgender Transition and Support Plans
For this meeting the board had on the consent agenda (numerous items previously discussed & passed as a group with one vote) exhibits that are used to support and enforce policy AC non-Discrimination/Equal Opportunity.
I pulled E3 to E5 off the consent agenda for discussion/vote for each exhibit which I voted no on all the documents because once again there is no requirement to ensure parents are notified of all meetings regarding a gender transition and support plan and that parental consent is not required.
Dr. Melissa Schneider did finally acknowledge that parents can attend all the meetings but that parents are not notified of the meetings. Parents can find out about the meetings via a records request which I pointed out a parent would have to somehow know that there was a meeting they needed information about. Bottom line: parents are not notified and will only know about the meeting if their child decides to share with them.
Dr. Schneider also acknowledged after I asked several times which state statute prohibits requiring parental consent, that there is no such statute. I again asked then why can’t we add a signature line for parents?
I also asked her how the school district was going to protect biological female athletes who must compete against transgender females and received no response especially since Director Dawn Kirk spoke out of turn and prevented Dr. Schneider from answering.
I firmly believe that parents have the constitutional right to decide what is the best course of action if their child is experiencing gender dysphoria and the district must respect parental rights.
I also discussed that students who are not transgender under the 14th amendment have a right to equal protection. What does this mean?
It means that if a transgender student can request accommodations that align with their desired gender identity, then a non-transgender student must also be provided accommodations for privacy if they are not comfortable with the opposite biological sex being present in a locker room, bathroom or hotel room.
The discussions begins at 1:33 and goes to approx. 1:41
The exhibits were:
- E3: Guidelines Regarding Support of Students and Staff who are Transgender and/or Gender Nonconforming. Revised & Adopted Version
- E4: Gender Transition Plan. Revised & Adopted Version
- E5: Gender Support Plan. Revised & Adopted Version
Next up were the two proposed tax increases for the November 2024 ballot.
The bond and special levy fee were both something that I wanted to vote yes on, but during the summer as I talked with district voters and followed other possible ballot issues, I became less certain of supporting the two tax measures.
As I said during the meeting, there is a need for a bond but due to economic conditions and the Loveland sales tax increase now is not the right time to spend money on an election or to ask voters for money they simply don’t have.
The special levy fee I did champion as the district per law is at the cap for revenues from mill levy overrides (MLO). As much as I wanted to vote yes, I know that too many in the district are struggling to provide for their families let alone save money for emergencies which is what the special levy allows the district to do.
I am also aware that many in the district have lost trust in the district not because they believe we are doing something wrong with tax dollars, but because it is extremely difficult to understand where and how the district spends their tax dollars.
Because of the distrust voters will have a hard time believing that the special levy dollars will be spent the way we state and that we won’t use to “free up” money to be spent on things not relevant to education.
The bond discussion/vote starts at 1:41:28
The special levy discussion/vote starts at 1:54:25
I understand that my position was not supported by the rest of the board, and it is to be expected that we will not always agree. That said I was disappointed in the response from Director Dawn Kirk who stated, “I’m actually frankly quite shocked at the way that this evening’s debate has happened because this was somebody was a huge champion with this who is now crapping all over it.” See 1:59:29
I know that there are voters who will strongly disagree with my vote, and I understand.
I believe that the board should create a budget advisory committee to focus first on revamping the way the budget is presented so that any average taxpayer can understand how their money is being spent. The district has been using the same format for over 20 years which is antiquated and difficult if not impossible to know how much money is being spent on classroom learning.
There are two districts that have a format that shows how a budget can be presented so that it is understandable, easy to find how much money each school receives and where the money is spent. I would encourage you to check out the budgets for Greeley 6 and for Westminster school districts (page has budget & powerpoint presentation).
As always if you have any questions don’t hesitate to call me at 970-691-3446
Nancy Rumfelt
Director District C
Board of Education
Thompson School District
Note: I do not speak on behalf of the school board, and this is my perspective only.