Elizabeth School District is trying to ban 19 books from its school library shelves and a federal judge is having none of it. The books represent everything radical conservatives and the Trump administration don’t like about diversity, racism, sexual gradations and gender identity.

Dan Snowberger, superintendent of Elizabeth School District, says the books and what they represent are “disgusting.” What more needs be said about how “woke” he and his board are related to censoring free speech and controlling what students read and learn?

What’s uniquely offensive about this offense is Snowberger was appointed twice to state legislature task forces responsible for evaluating the state’s teacher and student accountability system, including state CMAS testing. His work on the most recent task force is now the basis for recommendations from the Accountability, Accreditation, Student Performance and Inequity Task Force.

HB25-1278, “Education Accountability System”, is currently assigned to House Appropriations with a $5.75 million fiscal note. The bill’s current content as of March 26 is unknown as sponsors are no doubt trying to figure a way to lower the fiscal note cost when there is a $1.2 billion budget deficit. The bill continues CMAS testing as the basis for evaluating school districts, schools and students. Changes are perfunctory related to testing. The most important, and costly, addition relates to offering more languages for non-native English speakers.

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Snowberger has had a controversial professional life in Colorado’s K-12 school system. His career started in Florida, moved to California, and then arrived in Durango where he was superintendent. It was at this time he was nominated to lead the first task force on CMAS testing in K-12 education. That task force’s recommendations took the day. They led to the massive testing system that “measures” academic achievement and growth in today’s Colorado schools.

The more recent task force should have focused on how significantly this accountability system has failed students. The tests are geared to white, middle-class-and-above students, disadvantaging low-income, minority and English-language-learning children. School districts such as Boulder and Aspen with their affluent and well-educated populations consistently receive “distinction” assignations based on this testing program. Districts like Adams 14 in Commerce City sitting next to the polluting Suncor Refinery receive non-performing ratings leading to unproductive “support” from the Colorado Department of Education.

Snowberger resigned from Durango School District in inauspicious circumstances as a “white paper” from local citizens, reported in the Durango Herald, asserted he fudged his resume to get his job. According to the white paper, job dates and academic records didn’t match confirming information from previous employers or universities.

Snowberger moved to the “Education Re-Envisioned BOCES” with Ken Witt as leader, who doubled up as the superintendent of Woodland Park School District. Witt will leave Woodland Park on April 15 under a cloud with a bad financial audit. His Education Re-Envisioned BOCES deserves oversight for the weak performance of its 4,000-plus to 10,000-plus (?) students as reported in CDE’s 2023 and 2024 enrollment numbers. The 2024 numbers may or may not be accurate as Re-Envisioned BOCES does not meet participation levels in CMAS/PSAT testing. During Snowberger’s tenure there, Re-Envisioned BOCES had low test scores and low participation rates on standardized tests.

The book banning fiasco is another example of Snowberger’s retrograde leadership. His board is ultra-conservative, relying on book lists and recommended policy guidance from Moms for Liberty and other extreme right-wing organizations. The banned books come off a Moms for Liberty list and include literature that addresses racial discrimination and violence and sexual identity and LGBTQ issues. The 19 banned books are the object of a court case filed by the ACLU before the federal circuit court representing Colorado.

United States Judge Charlotte Sweeney has found the basis of the book banning as insupportable. Her court decision requiring the books be re-shelved cites First Amendment free-speech rights of parents and authors. The judge states the district’s arguments are without merit. Banned books are by well-known authors with awards from respected literary organizations based on the age-appropriateness of the literature. Court precedent supports author free speech and student rights to access protected speech.

The American Library Association’s views on books in schools rejects book banning on the premise students should be exposed to a wide range of stories that help children understand the society around them. Broad reading on difficult subjects serves the important value of expanding perspective. Apparently the Elizabeth School District school board and superintendent disagree.

Many district teachers disagreed with the board and superintendent. Elizabeth School District employs 149 teachers according to a 2024 count. District information posted as school board documents shows 65 staff have “separated” from the district in the 2024-2025 school year.

Snowberger recently appeared on radio shows in the Denver area. In the Ross Kaminsky program on KOA he stated, ‘”We as a school district are going to remain focused on educating our kids… real science, real history… and we’re going to get out of the business of indoctrinating students, which sadly, so many public education systems are in.” Seriously. He’s guiding education policy in this state.

Paula Noonan owns Colorado Capitol Watch, the state’s premier legislature tracking platform.