Emotions ran high Wednesday evening during the Colorado Springs School District 11 Board of Education meeting as attendees spoke passionately about equity, transgender rights, the public behavior of two board members and the future of Superintendent Michael Thomas.

During an executive session, held privately before the regular meeting, the board discussed legal advice regarding Thomas’ contract. Thomas assumed leadership of the District in July 2018.

Several district parents and staff members spoke in support of Thomas during the public-comments portion of the meeting. But others said that with declining enrollment and below-average test scores, the district would benefit from a change in leadership.

Outside the administration building, about three dozen community members braved single-digit temperatures to hold a demonstration in protest of recent controversial comments by board members Jason Jorgenson and Rev. Al Loma.

Earlier this month, Jorgenson, the board’s vice president, posted a meme on his personal Facebook account that depicted a transgender woman undergoing an ultrasound examination in a doctor’s office, with a caption reading, “When you transgender and you think you pregnant,” and a monitor showing fecal matter in the woman’s stomach.

In emails Loma sent to Thomas, he allegedly said he wanted to “gangster slap” a man who spoke at a board meeting last month and referred to a local advocacy group, comprised mostly of Black men, as “barking Chihuahuas.” 

Jorgenson posted an apology on the D-11 website shortly after news of the meme spread throughout the district. On Wednesday, he apologized again in what he said will be his final comment on the subject.

“My personal and deeply held convictions won’t change, and are aligned with the Bible and biology in that there are only two genders,” Jorgenson said. “That being said, I realize that my post was inconsiderate to others with beliefs that different from my own, and was especially inappropriate considering my position as a school board member.”

Loma did not apologize for his recent comments, saying that his email to Thomas was a rhetorical statement during what he thought was a private dialogue. He also defended his social media posts making fun of masking and vaccines, saying that there is evidence that they are ineffective in slowing the spread of COVID-19.

Several attendees made angry outbursts and left the boardroom during Loma’s statements.

Board member Julie Ott delivered sharp rebukes to both Loma and Jorgenson during her comments.

“Your meme was more than inconsiderate,” Ott said to Jorgenson, calling his post “crude, offensive, hurtful and mean.”

Ott then said, “Director Loma’s statements appear to be part of a pattern of demeaning and threatening language.”

The board meeting was still in session at press time.