Jefferson R-1 School Board Watch

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In 2015, a battle royale broke out over a local school board in Jefferson County, Colorado. A newly elected conservative majority had overturned union contracts, implemented a merit-based teacher pay system, and funded charter schools. The response was a week of student protests and a recall election fueled by groups with political agendas and lots of money.

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2013

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• DAVIS: Familiar Faces Bring Education Crusade to Southwest Colorado
  • Miller’s name is familiar to anyone who has followed education politics in Colorado over the last decade. First rising to prominence for his role as the eminence grise of the 2013-2015 takeover of Jefferson County Public Schools – which ended in collapse as national news outlets tuned in and more than a hundred thousand voters turned out to drum Miller’s clients out of office – Miller has cemented himself as the go-to attorney for Colorado’s right-wing education reformers. By all accounts, he is a true believer in the cause of education reform and school choice, and has brought his considerable skill to bear on advancing that cause in Colorado over the last two decades. With brother-in-law Sen. Paul Lundeen pushing education reform measures in the state Senate, and the two men’s sons running a service to equip districts with unlicensed substitute teachers, education reform is also the family business. Today, Miller’s firm represents more than 60 charter schools and a handful of public school districts in the state.

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2014

Feb. 2014

• Conservatives control future of Jeffco Schools | 9 News
  • She points out that in November Ken Witt, John Newkirk, and Julie Williams won their respective school board races by significant margins. She says parents want a new direction in the district that is more about local control.
  • The question is, do hints to Jeffco’s future lie within the past Douglas County Schools?
  • Over the past few years, hundreds of experienced educators left Douglas County because of frustrations with the school board. “I don’t want to see that happen here. We have some incredible, incredibly-dedicated principals and teachers,” Patterson said. “I don’t want to see this district lose its best and brightest to surrounding school districts.”

Sept. 2014

• Here’s what’s behind the JeffCo history curriculum protests
  • “Williams’ proposal, discussed at a board meeting last week, would set up a committee to review curriculum. The committee’s initial job would be to review curriculum used in Advanced Placement U.S. History classes and elementary health. The controversial piece of the proposal appears in Williams’ first draft:
    “Materials should promote citizenship, patriotism, essentials and benefits of the free enterprise system, respect for authority and respect for individual rights. Materials should not encourage or condone civil disorder, social strife or disregard of the law. Instructional materials should present positive aspects of the United States and its heritage.”

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2015

Feb. 2015

• Jeffco school board won’t review AP US history after protests | Sentinel
  • “Far right conservatives gained control of the Jefferson County School Board. The School Board became so controversial that several National media outlets reported on the bizarre behavior of the school board’s conservative majority members. School Board meetings were packed with community members who witnessed a circus of school board member arguments, including disagreements about an AP U.S. History class.”

• Campaign for America’s Future: The Disturbing Forces Behind a School “Reform” Fight in Colorado | NEPC
  • More recently, this district of over 85,000 students, the second largest in the state, made headlines again when mass student walkouts occurred in high schools across the district to voice concerns over a proposed review of an AP U.S. history course.
  • As the Associated Press reported at the time, students were alarmed that the stated purpose of the review was “to make sure materials ‘promote citizenship, patriotism, essentials and benefits of the free-market system, respect for authority and respect for individual rights’ and don’t ‘encourage or condone civil disorder, social strife or disregard of the law.’”
  • The students took to the streets multiple days in a row to voice their right to learn about the history of protest and civil disobedience that helped create the country they live in today. Some teachers got involved as well, staging a “mass sick-out” in support of the students.

Aug. 2015

• In ‘Purple District,’ Jeffco School Board Recall Could Have Big Influence | CBS News
  • Voters in Jefferson County will head to the polls later this fall to vote on whether to recall three school board members who have gone head-to-head with the teacher’s union. The results of that vote could impact school districts across Colorado.

Oct. 2015

JEFFCO Public Schools’ board president Ken Witt is filing a complaint against himself. He’s asking the Colorado Ethics Commission for an investigation and advisory opinion on whether he has violated the open meetings law as some of the organizers of a recall against him claim.

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Nov. 2015

• Jeffco School Board Members Ousted In Recall | CBS News
  • “By overwhelming margins, voters agreed to recall Ken Witt, Julie Williams and John Newkirk, who were elected into office in 2013 and made up the majority in the five-member board of the second-largest school district in the state. Voters also picked their replacements Tuesday, and two other school board members were also selected.“

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2021

• Yes, Colorado’s school board races are becoming more politicized. Here’s why
  • “In Colorado, several races – including Douglas County, Jefferson County and Mesa County Valley School District 51 — have “slates” of conservative-leaning candidates aimed at taking over. They’re unhappy with how their school boards handled the unprecedented pandemic turmoil.“

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2022

• School district disputes Ganahl’s claim about students identifying as furries | KDVR
  • Republican candidate for governor Heidi Ganahl is reiterating a claim that students in Colorado schools are self-identifying as animals. It’s an assertion that has been disputed by a local district, and in fact-checks from across the country.Ganahl took criticism for comments she made during a discussion about Colorado schools on a conservative talk radio show. The claim that students identify as furries has been spreading across the country for several months. A fact check by Reuters in July determined there was “no evidence that U.S. schoolchildren are self-identifying as animals and disrupting classrooms.” In April, The Associated Press did a fact check against a claim from Wisconsin that one district there had a “furry protocol.” The AP found this claim to be “completely false.”

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2024

• Colorado group raises money to get American flags in Jefferson County classrooms
  • The effort is to get an American flag into every Jefferson County classroom that needs one is led by Lindsay Datko and the parent group Jeffco Kids First.

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2025

Feb. 2025

• Social media post sparks threats against Columbine High School principal | Colorado Community Media
  • The backlash began after former Republican gubernatorial candidate Heidi Ganahl amplified a CBS news report about misconduct involving former Columbine teacher Leann Kearney, tagging Libs of TikTok, a far-right social media account. 

May 2025

• Conservative parent groups sue Colorado over transgender rights law | CPR
  • The plaintiffs in the case include the Virginia-based conservative group Defending Education, which has challenged race-based initiatives and the teaching of issues related to race and gender in schools. Other plaintiffs include Colorado Parent Advocacy Network, Protect Kids Colorado, a health group called Do No Harm, and Travis Morrell, a Colorado dermatologist. They are represented by the Arlington, Virginia law firm Consovoy McCarthy.

June 2025

• Trump department investigating Jeffco policy on overnight trip assignments for transgender students | CPR
  • The Jeffco district “allegedly misleads parents by informing them that girls and boys will be separated for overnight accommodations without divulging that its definition of ‘girl’ includes boys who claim a female identity,” the department said in a press release. Jeffco Public Schools said in a statement that its policy is grounded in Colorado’s anti-discrimination law, the regulations for which say transgender individuals should be allowed to use restrooms, locker rooms, and dormitories that are consistent with their gender identity.

Aug. 2025

• Federal judge dismisses lawsuit on JeffCo policy on overnight rooming policy for transgender students | CPR
  • The court ruled that the plaintiffs failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted and that parents’ rights to raising their children don’t extend to controlling a public school’s curriculum or policies.
  • From Court Ruling Document- Thus, while parents may have the right to instill moral and religious values in their children on topics like a child’s gender identity, sexual modesty, and interactions with the opposite sex at home, they have no right to dictate Jeffco’s curriculum around these issues and its efforts to ensure that transgender students are part of an educational environment where all students feel safe and ready to learn. Nothing about Jeffco’s policy prohibits parents from teaching their children certain values. As held by the Tenth Circuit, parents have no right to replace public education with their own personal views nor a right to control each and every aspect of their children’s education and oust the state’s authority over that subject. See Lee, 135 F.4th at 933. Further, in Colorado District Court, Judge Nina Y. Wang and Magistrate Judge N. Reid Neureiter have similarly disposed of parental rights claims when parents have challenged school districts’ LGBTQ-inclusive policies. Lee v. Poudre Sch. Dist., No. 23-cv-1117-NYW-STV, 2023 WL 8780860, at *4−12 (D. Colo. Dec. 19, 2023); Jones v. Boulder Valley Sch. Dist. RE-2, No. 20-cv-3399-RM-NRN, 2021 WL 5264188, at *11−22 (D. Colo. Oct. 4, 2021)

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Dec. 2025

• Jeffco Public Schools to cut at least 150 jobs as district faces deficit | Denver Post
• Dozens of Jeffco Public Schools employees to lose their jobs due to budget cuts | 9 News

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2026

Jan. 2026

• Counselors confront Jeffco schools over mental health cuts | Jeffco Transcript

Feb. 2026

• Jeffco ‘lost track’ of $33 million promise to voters | Golden Transcript
• The Jeffco school children who can’t stop worrying

March 2026

• Trump administration says Jeffco Public Schools’ transgender student policies violate Title IX | The Denver Post
• Jeffco schools violated Title IX by allowing transgender students access to sports team and bathrooms, says Department of Education
  • “Providing equal access to programs and services for all Jeffco students, including those who are transgender, does not violate Title IX,” it said. “The Department’s interpretation has no basis in the Title IX regulations and is not supported by any binding court decision. It conflicts with a recent U.S. District of Colorado decision which considered the same Jeffco policies.”
• Jeffco superintendent defends MLO comments after allegation

April 2026

• Jeffco’s budget promised to spare classrooms. Did it? | Golden Transcript
  • Schools are losing 136 teachers, more than 10 counselors and nearly eight social-emotional learning specialists. At the same time, the district is recruiting a cabinet-level executive to oversee student services at a starting salary of $139,488.
  • For Jeffco’s 69,000 students and the families and taxpayers who fund the district, the question is not whether cuts were necessary. The district faces a genuine fiscal crisis, with enrollment falling by more than 4,000 students in four years and state funding that has not kept pace.
• How Jeffco schools got here: a decade of choices, now due | Golden Transcript

May 2026

• Is Jefferson County Schools policy on transgender students on overnight trips a violation of parents’ rights? | CPR
  • The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments Tuesday in a case looking at whether school district policies that assign transgender students to sleep in rooms according to their gender identity violate parental rights to make decisions about their children’s upbringing and education, their children’s privacy rights and their religious freedom rights.
  • The lawsuit stems from allegations by several parents that Jefferson County schools placed their children in spaces like rooms, and shared bathrooms, with transgender students during school-sponsored trips. 
• Federal court weighs Jeffco’s transgender rooming policy | Golden Transcript
  • Jeffco has disputed parts of the family’s account, saying in a public statement that students did not share beds on the trip and that the district did not know the assigned roommate was transgender. The Wailes filed suit in September 2024, and three other families joined.
  • A federal judge in Denver dismissed the case last August, ruling the families had no constitutional right to dictate how Jeffco handles overnight rooms, and the families are now asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit to revive it.
  • Sterett asked the appeals court Tuesday to issue an emergency order putting the families’ requested protections in place before the next school year, but said he doesn’t control the court’s timing. If the families lose, Sterett said ADF will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to take the case.

• More money per student. So why are schools still cutting? How Adams 12, Jeffco, 27J, Westminster and Weld RE-8 fared in the 2026 School Finance Act bill | Canyon Courier
• Why your rising tax bill isn’t helping your schools | Golden Transcript
  • Here’s the part that matters for taxpayers. Because the state only pays the difference, local property taxes and state aid move like a seesaw. When local revenue rises, the state’s share drops by roughly the same amount. When local revenue falls, the state backfills the gap.
  • So when your property tax bill goes up, your district usually doesn’t end up with more money. The mix of who’s paying just shifts, from the state toward you, the homeowner.
• Tracy Dorland steps down as Jeffco schools superintendent | Golden Transcript
  • Jeffco Public Schools Superintendent Tracy Dorland will resign July 5 to take a new job, ending a five-year tenure that began in the middle of the pandemic and spanned some of the district’s most consequential decisions in a decade.

June 2026

• US Department of Education threatens Jeffco schools with funding cuts over gender identity policies | CPR
  • The district has 10 days to comply or risk losing federal funding, according to a letter sent Wednesday by the Department’s Office for Civil Rights, according to a press release. Federal money makes up about 8% of Jeffco schools’ budget, or roughly $98 million.

• Jeffco Public Schools pushes back as feds renew threat to pull funding over transgender student policies | Denver 7
  • “The department’s interpretation has no basis in the Title IX regulations and is not supported by any binding court decision,” Jeffco Public Schools said in an unsigned statement Wednesday. “At least one federal court of appeals has held that (President Donald Trump’s) executive order does not have the force of law and that it did not amend Title IX. Prior federal administrations have taken the direct opposite view — that Title IX protects transgender students’ access to school programs and facilities.”

Moms for Liberty Social Media Click Bait Amicus Brief Filed on Behalf of Moms for Liberty

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• Some Jeffco school staff see health costs more than double | Canyon Courier

• Jeffco board picks Rob Stein as interim superintendent | Golden Transcript
  • The announcement comes weeks after Superintendent Tracy Dorland said she’d leave the district. She departs July 5, one day before Stein would step in.

• How a Jeffco Title IX Claim Became a D20 Ballot Message | The D20 Accountability Project
  • The public source that matters most is the March 2026 U.S. Department of Education release on Jefferson County Public Schools. ED said athletic rosters indicated that male students “may occupy up to 61 roster positions” on girls’ teams.

• Slap in the face’: Evergreen community reacts to Polis veto | Canyon Courier
  • Then she went home, turned on the television and learned that Gov. Jared Polis, whom she said had pledged to take care of the people of Colorado, including their children, had vetoed the bill the community had spent eight months fighting for.

• A Letter to the Jeffco Public Schools Community
  • Recently, there have been media reports regarding an investigation of Jeffco Public Schools by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) related to our compliance with Title IX, the U.S. civil rights law guaranteeing equal protection based on sex. To clarify misunderstanding, we want to share the facts, how we are responding, and why.

• Conservative School Activists Say They Are ‘Working Directly With the U.S. Department of Education’ | CTR
  • Lindsay Datko, leader of the Jefferson County-based activist group JeffCo Kids First (JKF), has also made multiple posts indicating a connection between her organization and the OCR going back well before the Title IX investigation.

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• The data flaw inside Jeffco’s federal Title IX findings | Golden Transcript
  • To prove that male students were competing on Jeffco’s girls’ sports teams, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights counted 61 roster positions it said were held by males. But a 31-page Letter of Findings, obtained through a Colorado Open Records Act request, shows that figure came entirely from data recording “the gender provided by students and/or their families” — self-reported gender identity — not a single record of any student’s biological sex.

• “We Cannot Do This Alone”: JeffCo Schools Asks CO Gov and AG For Help Against Trump’s Anti-Trans Threats
  • All public schools in the state are bound by CADA, but Jeffco seems to have been singled out as a result of manufactured right-wing media fervor. The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a Southern Poverty Law Center-designated hate group, represented parents who sued the district in 2025, saying cisgender kids’ rights were violated because transgender kids were awarded those same rights. The ADF functionally argues that parents are entitled to know the intimate medical details about any given transgender child if that child might come into contact with their own child.

July 2026

• $135 million tax increase pitched as a solution for Jeffco Public Schools’ budget gap | Chalkbeat
• DOJ official who could decide Jeffco’s fate: your fight ‘has not gone unnoticed’ | Class Notes
  • The U.S. Justice Department official whose office could decide whether to withhold federal funds from Jeffco schools recorded a video for the parents pressing the case, telling them their “fight has not gone unnoticed” in Washington and vowing to seek accountability “through every federal tool available.”
  • She recorded it for Jeffco Kids First, the parent advocacy group whose complaint helped trigger the federal case against the district. Jeffco Kids First is a local group that has pressed the district to assign sports teams and restrooms by biological sex rather than gender identity.
• Why a transgender sports fight could cost every Jeffco kid | Golden Transcript
  • More than $50 million a year is a lot of ground to make up in a district already cutting its budget. A gap that size turns into fewer staff and thinner programs when it disappears. The government says Jeffco discriminated against girls in its sports, locker rooms and overnight trips. The district disputes the finding itself, saying it rests on a count of 61 roster spots that measured how students identify, not their sex at birth, and that no one verified.
• Jefferson County Public Schools is suing the Trump Administration | CPR
  • The district said the administration’s claim was based on a “factual misunderstanding” and said it has tried to mediate the issue with the administration in good faith. It also said the new federal guidelines and current Colorado law are in conflict and asked a court to provide clarity for which directions the district must follow.

Aug. 2026

• Anti-LGBTQ Group’s Nonprofit Originally Created to Attack Teachers Union
  • JCSF’s political activity was in part funded by the Wisconsin-based Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, a group which has pumped millions of dollars into a wide range of conservative political projects nationwide for decades. The Bradley Foundation gave $75,000 to JCSF in 2015, as well as $50,000 to the Independence Institute, a libertarian think tank which supported the JCSF-backed candidates. The stated purpose of the Bradley Foundation’s grant to the Independence Institute was “to defund teachers’ unions and achieve real education reform.”
  • Additional funding came from other prominent Republican donors. A 2013 Republican-led fundraiser for JCSF listed beer magnate Pete Coors as a member of the host committee, as well as Terry Considine, a Denver real estate mogul who co-founded Advance Colorado, the conservative group focused on ballot initiatives with ties to GOP billionaire Phil Anschutz. Considine is also the former chairman of the Bradley Foundation.

Sept. 2026

• Westminster wants to buy closed Moore Middle School | Class Notes
  • Moore is one of 13 closed schools that remain unsold, according to the district’s property disposition page. Until a deal closes, Jeffco pays about $150,000 a year to maintain each one, a figure staff presented to the board in May.