Montezuma-Cortez RE-1 School Board Watch

2021

Sept. 2021

• An unsustainable situation?: Two CMS teachers voice concerns over discussions of drastic measures | Four Corners Free Press
  • Based on disagreements over everything from how positively to portray the history of the United States to whether LGBTQ students can gather at lunchtime to whether students should wear masks in school, the rift was very clear during the Sept. 21 meet­ing of the Re-1 school board.
• School schisms: District Re-1 sees rifts over curriculum, Lunch Bunch, COVID-19 | Four Corners Free Press
  
• Colorado school board contests, stoked by COVID, draw intense partisan fervor and big money | The Colorado Sun
  • In Cortez, two school board members resigned after increasingly chaotic meetings where conservative factions jeered and heckled speakers who didn’t agree with them.
  • “It was a real toxic environment,” said Chris Flaherty, who had been on the board less than two years when it was plunged into withering scrutiny. “All of a sudden it was like a switch was flipped. People were coming to us and barking at us about (critical race theory) and telling us we weren’t doing our jobs.” I was growing concerned for the safety of me and my family,” Flaherty added.

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2022

• DAVIS: Familiar Faces Bring Education Crusade to Southwest Colorado
  • It started in early 2022, during a change in district administration. The past superintendent, Risha VanderWey, had departed, and the Montezuma-Cortez school board was interviewing candidates to replace her. Around the same time as the vacancy, in a January meeting, board president Sherri Noyes mentioned meeting attorney Brad Miller at a retreat, and encouraged her fellow board members to request a letter of engagement from his firm. By the next month, the district had hired Miller, but it still had not hired a superintendent.

• Sept. 2022
  • A tale of two towns: The clash between LGBTQ+ supporters and opposing groups in Montezuma County
    • “Lance McDaniel thought a box of pizza for a small group of LGBTQ+ Montezuma-Cortez Middle School students and their allies would help put a smile on the children’s’ faces.For months, McDaniel, then a member of the Montezuma-Cortez Board of Education, delivered pizza under the anonymous title “the pizza fairy” to the middle school’s Rainbow Club — a lunchtime opportunity for LGBTQ+ students and allies to gather in a safe space.”
   Dec. 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.

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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.”

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2024

• Aug. 2024
  • Montezuma-Cortez district to host learning event to better understand Indigenous students
    • The Monteuma-Cortez RE-1 school district, San Juan BOCES and the Colorado Department of Education are partnering to host a day of professional learning geared toward helping school leaders and faculty learn to welcome and better understand Indigenous students and students with “exceptionalities.”
  Dec. 2024
  • Montezuma-Cortez votes to join conservative school board association, Colorado Leaders for Academic Success

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2025

Feb. 2025

• Re-1 school board hires law firm to review contracts; GOCO awards $2.6 million in Southwest Colorado
  July 2025
  
• Cortez Superintendent Tom Burris annnounces defamation lawsuit against JJ Lewis | The Journal
  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
  Cortez school board swears in new member; faces public criticism | The Journal
  
  Sept. 2025
  Superintendent Tom Burris resigns after three years in the Montezuma-Cortez district | Durango Herald
  Re-1 school board moves ahead with speedy hiring process for new superintendent | KSJD
  
  Oct. 2025
  Re-1 board names 3 superintendent finalists after executive session of nearly 5 hours | KSJD
  Bully: The Crisis of Leadership in Montezuma-Cortez Schools CTR
  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.“
  Eddie Ramirez selected as superintendent; Sherri Wright admonishes community | The Journal

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2026

Feb, 2026

• School board seeks new general legal counsel
  • 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

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March 2026

• Montezuma-Cortez school board rejects Caplan & Earnest proposal in split vote
  • At its March meeting, the Montezuma-Cortez RE-1 School District rejected a proposal from Caplan & Earnest after some members said they wanted to hear from at least one other firm and raised concerns about communication.

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April 2026

• Students with Youth Leadership Council suggest resuming lunch clubs in Re-1 schools
• Re-1 school board chooses new law firm, cutting ties with Brad Miller
• 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.
• AWARD WINNER: Bully: The Crisis of Leadership in Montezuma-Cortez Schools
• Ramirez Letter NES Communication Letter 3.31.26

• 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.”