Voices in Action: February 2025 DCC Update
- Catherine Lees
- Feb 24
- 7 min read
Updated: Mar 4
There are several organizations in Douglas County and Colorado dedicated to protecting public education. At Douglas County Parents, we aim to share their valuable voices, providing information and resources.
DougCo Collective Newsletter & Blog
A special ask: Please consider donating to Doug Co Collective so they can pay for operations. DCC provides in-depth analysis that no one else in the county provides. DCP counts on them to take the time to understand the details and impacts of decisions the Board has made, and what we should be looking for in the future. DougCo Collective is an advocacy organization focused on educating the community about issues impacting public education. They provide in-depth analyses of these issues, offering context on current events and actionable steps to support our schools.
You can receive the DougCo Collective’s newsletter directly in your inbox by signing up on their website. Stay informed and engaged! This Blog is a copy of the newsletter but does not include all the links that DougCo Collective provides.
Before sharing this DCC Update, we would like to express our sincere appreciation to each and every one of you for your continued support of our organization.
When we launched in March 2022, we were fortunate to have a large and engaged community who helped us afford the associated costs – domain, website, mailbox, etc. – through donations.
We have operated as a volunteer-run, grassroots nonprofit organization, educating the community and working hard to hold our school district accountable for its actions and inactions.
Now, almost three years later, we have depleted our start-up and operations funding (approximately $750 per year) and are asking the community to pitch in to help us continue forward with our mission — Educating the Douglas County community on public education issues that impact our School District.
Every little bit helps, and as a grassroots organization, we are requesting small, individual donations so as not to create financial hardship for anyone in these uncertain times. If you can, please make any donation you can afford here. We want to continue to be a trusted resource for public education in Douglas County.
In this DCC Update:
Executive Session
DCSD Pathways Update
Legislative Update
BoE Self-Monitoring Reports
Dyslexia Lunch N Learn
Executive Session
Update from DCC: Since publishing the “Executive Session” in the February 2025 DCC Update, we have learned that the expiration date for Superintendent Erin Kane’s contract with DCSD is June 30, 2025, rather than June 30, 2026.
The BoE had a lengthy discussion at the March 29, 2022, meeting about adjusting the originally proposed four-year contract to a three-year contract. Former Director Elizabeth Hanson offered an amendment to shorten the contract term from four years to three. She cited concern over avoiding the current situation of having to pay two superintendents at the same time because one was terminated without cause before the end of his contract. The majority directors at first wanted to keep the contract at four years, but eventually agreed to three in the spirit of fiscal responsibility and to ensure a unanimous vote to hire Kane, which didn’t happen (Meek voted no), but it did pass 5-1 (Former Director David Ray was not present at the meeting).
When we pulled the Superintendent’s contract from the DCSD website before writing the copy below, we did not realize that it had not been updated to reflect the 2025 end date, and we apologize for the oversight.Although we aren’t privy to the details of the Executive Session that took place prior to the regular DCSD Board of Education meeting on Feb. 11, the meeting notice mentioned that the session was centered around negotiating the Superintendent’s contract.
Superintendent Erin Kane’s contract is in effect until June 2026 [sic](it's 2025 see above), so February 2025 is a bit premature for renegotiation discussions. Is Kane trying to get ahead of the school board election this fall to secure her job should the board majority shift? What other rationale is there for the “purposes of determining positions relative to matters that may be subject to negotiations, developing strategy for negotiations, and instructing negotiators as related to the terms of the Superintendent’s Contract”?
DCSD Pathways Update
“Post-Secondary Readiness” is a term used in the School Performance Framework, which is the rubric that “grades” schools and school districts. The intention is to make sure districts are graduating students and preparing them for the world after high school, whether that be college or career. Well beyond the expectations of the Colorado Department of Education, DCSD’s Legacy Campus is a great example of this and is a privilege to those students in DCSD who have access to it.
Assistant Superintendent Danny Winsor led a 20-minute presentation on how DCSD is preparing students for the future. From the slide below, we can see that DCSD goes above and beyond in this area.
For a full list of what DCSD offers, read this document.
Legislative Update
DCSD’s lobbyist, Jason Hopfer, updated the BoE on what bills affecting education have been introduced or are expected to be introduced. Currently, he’s keeping tabs on school finance and school accountability bills that are expected to be coming down the pipeline. With the Governor’s suggestion of eliminating enrollment averaging and the 1241 Task Force completing their recommendations last year, he is watching closely to see what’s presented.
In addition, Mr. Hopfer mentioned the expectation of several other bills he is watching as well, not all of which have been introduced.
Superintendent Kane updated the BoE on how the latest Executive Orders (EO) from the President impact DCSD. According to Kane, nothing in those orders will change the way DCSD is serving students as the EO’s are regarding issues that DCSD does not partake in. One of particular concern to parents and the DCSD community is the green-lighting for immigration officials to enter schools (among other locations that have been off-limits to date) to remove undocumented children. Kane simply responded that she has informed her Senior Leadership Team that they should treat any inquiry by an immigration official attempting to enter a school premises as they do the Department of Human Services — by not allowing access to students and contacting administration and district attorneys for guidance. She said she was assured by local law enforcement that they will not be attempting to enter schools.
Although there is some comfort in these words, there was no strong language about absolutely protecting our children and refusing access to our schools.” This, combined with the lack of a public response to the broader community is concerning. For now, if you know where to look (recording of the BoE meeting), you can find the district’s stance, but it is more likely that the majority of the community remains in the dark.
There was discussion over the “Keeping Men out of Women’s Sports” EO which bans transgender girls from participating in girls’ sports. Once again, instead of standing in front of our marginalized students, Kane referred to Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) as the reason DCSD takes no stance on the subject. Since school sports are governed by CHSAA, DCSD must follow their rules and right now, CHSAA follows state law and state law allows transgender girls to play in girls’ sports.
The most concerning part of this discussion was President Christy William’s open musing about proposing what sounded like a resolution in support of biological girls being the only ones who can play in girls’ sports. Referring to other districts who have passed extreme resolutions banning transgender students from playing sports, President Williams wondered aloud if DCSD should also do this.
It’s not lost on us that some of the most vulnerable students in our district are left unprotected, and instead may be targeted by our BoE.
While some student subgroups struggle to access academic support, special education students continue to be overlooked, and nearly 9% of high school students have contemplated suicide. DCSD remains entangled in lawsuits and under federal investigation for persistent, unaddressed racism. Yet, instead of addressing these urgent issues, the President of our Board of Education is considering a resolution against a group of teens who are not causing any problems—just trying to survive and thrive. This is the exact opposite of the “Safe, Positive Culture and Climate” they claim to be fostering.
BoE Self-Monitoring Reports
There was some obvious tension during this part of the BoE meeting. Director Kaylee Winegar submitted a glowing “In Compliance” Report for her interpretation of President Williams’ on-point fulfillment of her duties. This was in contrast to Director Susan Meek’s full BoE Officer Monitoring Report (noted to be duplicative in this meeting) which pointed out two discrepancies that Director Winegar failed to address.
First, the addition of an agenda item for a presentation by John Adams Academy requesting the charter school be released from DCSD’s authorizing authority. This agenda item was unilaterally approved by Williams without consulting with the other Directors or by giving written notice. Screenshots of social media posts show that the John Adams Academy founders believed they had space on the agenda and then when President Williams was confronted by other Directors on her lack of process, they pulled the post down. Eventually, the co-founders of John Adams Academy were given time on the meeting agenda the following month.
The second point Director Meek notes was the assertion that President Williams was going to vet the AP African American Studies course with the educator requesting to teach it. It’s not normal for BoE directors to meet with staff one-on-one, especially to ask them to defend their curriculum requests that have already been through an established process. Williams cited that she had not had enough time to read up on the AP course and had reached out to the teacher, asking to be enlightened. She attempted to rationalize her request because the teacher had offered to explain it to her. In the end, this meeting never took place, but it was a clear indicator that President Williams is struggling with her role and isn’t consistently following established processes. We would like to see President Williams use more care in the future.
Dyslexia Lunch N Learn
Board Directors each gave their reflections of how the February Lunch N Learn went. Overall, Directors learned a significant amount on what DCSD is currently doing to identify and intervene with students who have been identified with traits of dyslexia. At the DCSD BoE retreat last month, there was a vague “concept of a plan” discussed on how the literacy team is evaluating students. From the feedback of the Lunch N Learn, it seems there is now a clear path forward and the staff is planning its first universal dyslexia screening in the Spring. This is a very positive step forward for students, as we all know that learning to read is the very foundation of education and without it, a lifelong struggle to learn and participate in the broader community is hindered.
