Montezuma-Cortez RE-1 School Board Watch

Third Future Schools takeovers

2021

Sept. 2021

Oct. 2021

Nov. 2021

The Montezuma-Cortez School District RE-1 school board decided to move away from the Wit & Wisdom literacy curriculum due to a combination of intense political pushback, concerns over educational effectiveness, and a broader strategic shift toward a new school reform model.

The initial and most vocal opposition came from community members and school board leaders who argued that Wit & Wisdom integrated concepts tied to Critical Race Theory (CRT). In September 2021, the school board passed an official “Resolution Opposing Principles of Critical Race Theory,” asserting that the curriculum’s heavy focus on historical modules regarding segregation, systemic racism, and minority demographics was divisive and age-inappropriate for elementary students.

2022

Sept. 2022

  • Recalled Cortez school board member continues to advocate for LGBTQ+ rights
    • Lance McDaniel was appointed to the Montezuma-Cortez RE-1 School Board in 2018. He wasn’t shy about his position on LGBTQ+ matters, attending virtual meetings displaying a rainbow flag and wearing his convictions on his t-shirts. He served on the board for three years before he was recalled in 2021.

2023

Oct. 2023

  • Far-Right Candidates Running Unopposed for Seats on Montezuma-Cortez School Board
    • “Public posts from O’Brien’s Facebook page illuminate what moral values he might be referring to. Within the past few months, he has shared a handful of inflammatory memes: one mocking the 2020 murder of George Floyd (using emoji to indicate that people offended by the post are “cocksuckers”), another claiming people who wear masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other illnesses “fell for it,” and another supporting Donald Trump following Trump’s indictment in August on charges of scheming to overturn the 2020 election.”

2024

Aug. 2024

2025

Feb. 2025

July 2025

  • Rural Colorado district takes aim at LGBTQ policy protections, seeks to join trans athlete lawsuit | CPR
    • The school board in the conservative-leaning Montezuma-Cortez district unanimously approved changes removing references to “sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression” from the policy. Also at Tuesday’s meeting, the board introduced a policy that would ban transgender students from joining school sports that match their gender identity — one that could permanently replace an emergency version adopted by the board in June.

Aug. 2025

Sept. 2025


Oct. 2025

  • Sanchez-Griego drops out of contention for Re-1 superintendent | KSJD News
    • “Karen Sanchez-Griego’s announcement came at the end of the two-and-a-half-hour gathering, which included repeated audience questions about transgender students, critical race theory and DEI.“
    • “Sanchez-Griego, Ph.D., is the former superintendent of the Cuba Independent School District in New Mexico and was credited with dramatically improving graduation rates there. Her pullout leaves Mike McFalls and Eddie Ramirez as candidates to replace current superintendent Tom Burris, who is retiring.“

Colorado State Board of Ed Member, Sherri Wright admonishes community
Colorado State Board of Ed Member, Sherri Wright, admonishes the community

2026

Feb, 2026

  • School board seeks new general legal counsel | KSJD
    • The district has for four years largely relied on Brad Miller of Miller Farmer Carlson Law, which is based in Colorado Springs. Miller is a controversial attorney known for supporting right-wing education agendas.
    • Later in the meeting, however, the board moved ahead with directing Superintendent Eddie Ramirez to issue the RFP for new general counsel

March 2026

April 2026

  • Cortez school board’s new majority cuts ties with two education groups
    • In separate actions, board members voted 5-1 to formally confirm the district is no longer a member of Education reEnvisioned BOCES, then later approved canceling the district’s membership with Colorado Leaders for Academic Success, also known as CLAS. The votes come after the most recent school board election changed the board’s makeup. Mike Lynch, who opposed leaving both organizations during Tuesday’s meeting, is the only remaining member from the board’s previous majority.

May 2026

  • School superintendent transition in Re-1 was somewhat rocky, email indicates | KSJD
    • Burris filed the lawsuit against a man who said Burris had failed to report possible child abuse to authorities, as school officials are required by law to do. In his lawsuit, Burris maintained that there was no evidence of child abuse in the incident and that the accusation of failing to report had subjected Burris to “outrage, scorn and contempt.”

August 2026

  • Re-1 teachers scramble to keep up with curriculum changes, errors | KSJD
    • Elementary-school teachers in the Montezuma-Cortez Re-1 School District have been left scrambling to fill in some lessons after the school board dropped a controversial curriculum from its K-5 materials.
      The teachers were already hustling to deal with errors cropping up in the materials before the curriculum was dropped.
  • What a Deal: HISD Adopts Bluebonnet And Gets $3.3 Million| Houston Press (JUNE 2026)
    • Although they didn’t have to, the state-appointed members of Houston ISD’s Board of Managers voted unanimously Thursday to adopt the state-developed Bluebonnet Learning curriculum despite the thousands of errors that have been discovered in it necessitating an $8 million do-over by the state.
    • The district’s reward? $3.3 million the district expects to receive from the state for doing so.
    • Superintendent Mike Miles warned against teachers amending the Bluebonnet text when teaching classes. It is something state elected leaders have endorsed.

  • Colorado school district rejects controversial reading curriculum because of errors, Texas focus | KSAT
    • The pressure of implementing Miles’s Texas curriculum in Colorado directly triggered Ramirez’s resignation on August 18, 2026. Just days before quitting, Ramirez was forced by public outcry to strip the Texas materials of their religious content, and the board ultimately voted 4–3 to reject the curriculum, leaving the district’s alignment with Miles’s system in tatters

Sept. 2026

  • Recommendations for Reading curriculum
    • Printing – Printing is an issue; we have ordered a high-volume printer, but it has not yet arrived. We have three staff members working almost full time to keep up with the printing demand for the NES instruction practices. The packets delivered are often confusing and sometimes delivered with little lead time. Additionally, we have worked with Pioneer Printing to complete some of the printing; this will cease this week, but the demand from the past four weeks has already resulted in a bill in the neighborhood of 10K. – Therefore, purchasing preprinted consumables will be much cheaper and more readily available to staff. Which is why I’m recommending these options despite the upfront costs.
    • Training – The Benchmark rep stopped by on Friday while training in Mancos and said he would work with us however he can to get any needed training support. He also said they would be on board to help us with the NES slide building process. I’m certain CKLA would be supportive as well, but the strong, expressed support and the knowledge that Benchmark is already in town working with Mancos are reassuring.

Oct. 2026

Information about Mike Miles & Education Partners NES Model

Reviews of NES curriculum

Errors found on HISD sixth-grade social studies map made with AI

Information on Mike Miles

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