Over 80 former and current Woodland Park School District teachers and staff publicly released a letter Thursday condemning a spate of controversial policies passed by the school board, defying what they say is an unconstitutional district policy restricting free speech.

During a news conference held before a standing room only crowd of over 100 at the Ute Pass Cultural Center, several of those 81 current and former employees who signed the letter detailed personal stories of how their students or own children and grandchildren have suffered, and how over a dozen employees saw their jobs eliminated, after the school board refused $1.5 million in grants to retain its social and behavioral health workers.

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The teachers also spoke out against the leadership of current interim superintendent Ken Witt, whose contract was extended for a year in May, and his adoption of the markedly conservative social studies curriculum standard American Birthright – a curriculum the teachers said puts politics over academic readiness – within his first month of leadership in January.

“We must utilize our constitutional rights to speak out against what we feel as an incompetent leadership actively harming our students and community,” said Margie Drews, a current teacher with the district.

“It has become abundantly clear to us that the direction that Ken Witt and the school board are taking our schools is unsustainable and detrimental.”

Their opposition comes despite a policy, adopted by the board in February, that governs employees’ outside communication, stating they may neither be interviewed by the press or post on social media about district or school decisions and other matters without prior written consent from the superintendent, The Gazette previously reported.

The policy deems any violation as insubordination, which is subject to disciplinary measures up to termination.

Lawyers for the Woodland Park School District agreed to mediate with the Woodland Park Education Association, which filed suit against the district in August to strike down the policy.

The American Birthright standard was created by the Civics Alliance, a conservative coalition with the stated mission of combating a “new civics” approach of the progressive left that it says prioritizes activism over the responsibilities of American citizenship. The Colorado State Board of Education shot down a proposal in 2022 that would have adopted American Birthright as Colorado’s base standard.

Speakers on Thursday said that not only does the curriculum fail to prepare students to navigate the world and critically consider different viewpoints, it is not an accredited standard recognized by certain collegiate organizations, like the NCAA.

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According to Woodland Park Middle School teacher Anna Hand, that could mean some coursework completed by the district’s high school athletes looking to compete at the collegiate level may not be recognized, and they may not be accepted into a given university.

Hand told The Gazette that the NCAA would accept waivers for those Woodland Park graduating athletes, but that there has been “no communication” about whether the district has requested waivers.

“If students are able to take an AP class or take classes with Pikes Peak State College, they can add those classes to their transcripts,” Hand said. “But, if they’re in a class (under American Birthright standards), no matter what their grade is or if they put in the work, it will not be recognized.”

Speakers said students are also suffering inside and outside the classroom after the district gutted its social worker and counselor staff, and called on the school board to reapply for grant funding.

“When there is not a social worker present in the building, teaching and learning are interrupted each time teachers have to manage (escalating) behaviors, and … one child’s unmet social and emotional needs impacts the entire classroom,” said Nancy Godwin, who worked three years as a paraeducator and five years as a special education teacher at the middle school before retiring this year.

“I left a teaching position I loved because I could not stand by and watch Ken Witt and the school board ruin (the district),” Godwin said.

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Around 40% of the district’s workforce did not return for the 2023-2024 school year, speakers said Thursday and NBC News reported.

During a meeting in March, Witt told teachers the schools were “not the department of health and human services” and that providing social services tended to “deter a lot of focus on education and academic achievement,” according to a video shared with NBC News.

Josh Desmidt, whose role as a restorative practices coordinator was eliminated, said his staff played a “crucial” role in facilitating environments within campuses to keep students experiencing suicidality, self-harm, social isolation, drug abuse, poverty and untreated mental health illnesses from “slipping through the cracks” by connecting them and their families with community resources and better accommodation and integration with their peers.

He said the choice to eliminate 15 social worker positions, which helped fill a need in rural Teller County for available and affordable behavioral health services, is “beyond comprehension.”

“These trusted adults provided a layer of support for our students,” Desmidt said. “Without that safety net, I’m worried for the safety of our students in our community.”

Witt did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication, though the request was sent after business hours.

The event comes a month before the November election, when the terms of board members Mick Bates, Cassie Kimbrell and David Illingworth will expire. A majority of seats on the five-person board, then, are subject to change and will determine the direction Woodland Park continues.

The board has said it also plans to deliver on its promise of a proper search for a permanent superintendent, possibly beginning in December or January following election season.

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