2021
- Pueblo West father and chiropractor runs for Pueblo D70 school board
- As the father of three children, Dr. Aaron “A.J.” Wilson has called for increased parental involvement in his run for a seat on the Pueblo County District 70 Board of Education.
- Wilson is an opponent of mask mandates and potential vaccine mandates. He said he believes the choice should be given to parents and personal doctors, not enacted by the Pueblo D70 school board or government.
- Here is a rundown of all the results from the 2021 election in Pueblo | The Pueblo Chieftain
- Pueblo West father and chiropractor runs for Pueblo D70 school board
2022
- PCSO Chief Lucero Addresses D70 School Board Meeting
- D70 legal counsel Brad Miller recommended approval of the Pueblo Classical Academy charter school contract. The motion passed with board members John Christenson and Chris DeLuca voting against the inclusion.
- PCSO Chief Lucero Addresses D70 School Board Meeting
2023
Oct. 2023
- Political and religious influences amplify in some Colorado school board races, as focus shifts away from students | CPR
- “Similar patterns of tension and discord — turbulent school board meetings, rapid policy changes sometimes skirting rules and law, and teachers afraid to speak up — played out in board turnovers in 2021 in Douglas County, Woodland Park, Pueblo 70, several El Paso County districts, Garfield County and Mesa Valley 51.”
Nov. 2023
- Pueblo D70 cancels 2023 school board elections due to lack of challengers to incumbents | The Pueblo Chieftain
- If Pueblo School District 70 hadn’t voted to cancel this year’s school board elections, two candidates would have run unopposed.
- Incumbent board directors Anne Ochs and Aaron “A.J.” Wilson were the only candidates who filed to run for their respective board seats, according to the Colorado Secretary of State. Both directors were elected in November 2021 and are finishing their first two-year term on the board.
- Christian Groups Target Pueblo’s School Board Election But Dems Take Up the Challenge
- D70 was set to hold school board elections on Tuesday, but they were canceled because only two candidates filed to run for two seats.
- But in 2021, less than a third of eligible voters cast ballots in the D60 school board election and just over 36% in D70 voted for board of education directors for five school districts. That was actually much better than in many other constituencies around the country in 2020, where school board election turnout averaged between 5% and 10% — astonishingly dismal figures, given that school board members make up the largest group of elected officials in the country.
- Political and religious influences amplify in some Colorado school board races, as focus shifts away from students | CPR
2024
Dec. 2024
- Conservative Christian Group’s Crusade Against Pueblo Public Schools
- “The effort failed, but in 2023 Forging Pueblo’s political committee, Forging the Future, supported multiple candidates for Pueblo D60 Board of Education. Two of those candidates, Sue Pannunzio and Brian Cisneros, won election to the board. In October, Pannunzio and Cisneros voted in support of a policy requiring parental notification for non-legal name changes, which contradicted an existing 2016 policy and which received widespread opposition from community members who argued the policy put LGBTQ youth at risk.
- Aaron Wilson, the D70 Board of Education vice president, helped Forging Pueblo organize Saturday’s Jericho Walk. “He was part of the original conversation of having a prayer event at all the different schools,” said Friberg. Wilson and other members of the majority-conservative board were elected in 2021. One of their first actions as a board was to hire conservative education attorney Brad Miller.”
- School prayer walk promoted by Pueblo school board members … | Colorado Newsline
- The “Jericho Walk for D70 Schools,” planned for Saturday, invites community members to walk around each of the schools in Pueblo School District 70 seven times in prayer, “with singing praises” on the seventh lap. Forging Pueblo’s page for the event says the organization wants prayers related to wisdom and guidance for the school board and staff, and for “safety” for students.
Oct. 2024
Pueblo District 70 pauses roll out of controversial curriculum after parents voice concerns| KRDO- “Parents are voicing their frustrations with leaders in Pueblo’s District 70 after a worksheet for 3rd graders asked them their preferred pronouns. D70 told KRDO13 that they’ve taken that part out of the worksheet and until further notice, they are pausing the official rollout of the new curriculum it was a part of.“
Sept. 2024
- Pueblo County District 70 amends controversial curriculum | KRDO
- “The TRAILS curriculum, intended to improve the overall well-being of students, came to the forefront in September after parents reported that 3rd graders were being asked about their preferred pronouns. ” ( El Paso Moms for Liberty made Public Comment)
Dec. 2024
- Forging Pueblo — a Christian political group — organized the “Jericho Walk” with the blessing, in part, of D70 school board members.
- This curriculum is the TRAILS Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum is a program developed to “provide mental health services to student in schools” and nurture “social and emotional skills like empathy, self-awareness, and respect.” The goal of this curriculum, according to its developers, is to increase emotional understanding in students, combat mental illness in children and teens, and provide in-school resources for at-risk youth.
- In a unanimous vote, District 70 adopted this curriculum as an add-on to their normal K-12 curricula this year after receiving a $750,000 donation to make its implementation possible.
- However, the curriculum recently came under closer scrutiny by local parents after it was reported that part of the curriculum was a worksheet which asked children their pronouns.
- Conservative Christian Group’s Crusade Against Pueblo Public Schools
2025
Oct. 2025
- This ‘public Christian school’ opened quietly in Colorado. Now there could be a legal fight. | Chalkbeat
- “References to the school’s Christian character are absent or muted in Riverstone’s application materials and contracts. An application for a school code submitted to the state in late June makes no mention of Riverstone’s religious nature. It also went unmentioned in the agreement approved by the Pueblo 70 school board in late June and in the contract between the school and the BOCES approved by the BOCES board in August.”
- “District 49, which is based near Colorado Springs, is one of the two school districts that belong to the Education reEnvisioned BOCES and serves as the groups’ fiscal agent. An hour south is Pueblo District 70, which is not part of the BOCES but approved an agreement to allow Riverstone to open within its boundaries.“
November 2025 School Board Election
- Progressive school board candidates make inroads in races across Colorado | Chalkbeat
- In some districts, such as Pueblo 70 and Montezuma-Cortez, board members elected Tuesday could nudge right-leaning boards toward the center.
Nov. 2025
- Christian law firm’s search for test case led to religious public school in Colorado, emails suggest | CPR
- A Tax-Funded Religious School in Colorado Would Undermine Reality-Based Education | Colorado Times Recorder
- Christian law firm’s search for test case led to religious public school in Colorado, emails suggest | Chalkbeat
Dec. 2025
- This ‘public Christian school’ opened quietly in Colorado. Now there could be a legal fight. | Chalkbeat
2026
Jan. 2026
- Colorado’s ‘first public Christian school’ ordered to close building over safety concerns | Chalkbeat
- Lawyers for Colorado’s ‘first public Christian school’ resist Pueblo County order to close building | Chalkbeat
- Emails obtained by Chalkbeat suggest the school was created to spark a test case in the courts over whether public money could go to religious schools, after the U.S. Supreme Court deadlocked on such a case out of Oklahoma last spring. But religious liberty is not likely to be the central issue if Riverstone’s operators were to face Pueblo County in court over their pending dispute.
- Colorado school district may drop attorney who helped create state’s ‘first public Christian school’ | Chalkbeat
- “The Pueblo 70 school board will vote Tuesday on whether to issue a request for proposals for attorney services — a first step that could lead the district to replace attorney Brad Miller and his Colorado Springs-based firm, Miller Farmer Carlson Law.“
- A southern Colorado school district could soon drop the law firm whose controversial lead lawyer helped launch what backers have called Colorado’s “first public Christian school.” | Pueblo Star Journal
D70 School Board Discussion about Attorney Brad Miller begins around 39 min., 20 seconds
Feb, 2026
- Pueblo D70 board fails to appoint new director after meeting ends abruptly | The Pueblo Chieftain
- Board President Ann Bennett and Vice President A.J. Wilson advocated for the vacancy to be filled by Susie Carnes — a private Christian school educator associated with Forging Education, a nonprofit operator of private Christian schools under the umbrella of the conservative Christian organization Forging Pueblo. Board Directors Mark Emery and Michelle Erickson voted against motions to appoint Carnes, but voted in support of motions to appoint each of the three other candidates — Jonathan Lewis, Adolph Vigil and Tara Stroesenreuther.
- Fallout from controversial ‘public Christian school’ in southern Colorado leads to school board clash | Chalkbeat
- The dispute that cut short Tuesday’s meeting surrounds the appointment of a fifth board member who could either align with two conservative-leaning board members or with two board members who’ve criticized how Riverstone came about. The factions also have opposite takes on the district’s attorney, Brad Miller, who helped launch Riverstone at the behest of a conservative law firm in order to spark a religious liberty lawsuit.
- The dispute that cut short Tuesday’s meeting surrounds the appointment of a fifth board member who could either align with two conservative-leaning board members or with two board members who’ve criticized how Riverstone came about. The factions also have opposite takes on the district’s attorney, Brad Miller, who helped launch Riverstone at the behest of a conservative law firm in order to spark a religious liberty lawsuit.
- Where’s Riverstone? New site of ‘public Christian school’ unclear as old location draws scrutiny | Chalkbeat
- Leaders of Riverstone Academy, which backers have called Colorado’s “first public Christian school,” won’t reveal where the school has been located since its original building was closed in late January over health and safety concerns.
- Pueblo D70 board meeting ends in 4 minutes after Bennett leaves again | The Pueblo Chieftain
- Two weeks after her controversial early exit from a Feb. 10 meeting, Pueblo County School District 70 President Ann Bennett left another meeting abruptly on Feb. 24.
- Fallout from controversial ‘public Christian school’ in Southern Colorado leads to school board clash
- The dispute that cut short Tuesday’s meeting surrounds the appointment of a fifth board member who could either align with two conservative-leaning board members or with two board members who’ve criticized how Riverstone came about. The factions also have opposite takes on the district’s attorney, Brad Miller, who helped launch Riverstone at the behest of a conservative law firm in order to spark a religious liberty lawsuit.
- New Pueblo D70 board member officially sworn in | The Pueblo Chieftain
- Susannah “Susie” Carnes was sworn in as the newest member of the Pueblo County School District 70 Board of Education on Feb. 25.
- A video shared on the district’s YouTube page shows Carnes taking her oath of office beside Pueblo D70 Board President Ann Bennett and Board of Education Administrative Assistant Kimberly Rein. Bennett appointed Carnes after the board failed to reach a consensus in a 60-day period.
March 2026
- Criminal complaint filed against attorney Brad Miller of Miller Farmer Law
- Sutton is asking the CO AG to conduct a full criminal investigation into an alleged “pay-to-play” bribery scheme carried out by Education Re-envisioned Board of Cooperative Educational Services (ERBOCES), ERBOCES’s legal counsel, Brad Miller and Pueblo County School District 70 Board of Education Director Anne Ochs, who abruptly resigned from the D-70 School Board in the wake of a public Christian School controversy instigated by Miller with the intent of spurring a legal test case against the school.
- Weaver: Faith leaders’ statement on a threat to religious freedoms
- Therefore, we oppose any group that would seek to merge with government in order to establish one religion as the United States’ national religion. This apparently is the goal of Christian Nationalism and their Pueblo entity Forging Pueblo as published in newspapers and posted on websites.*
- Lawyer warns of possible lawsuit over alleged open meetings violations in Pueblo 70 school district
- Four school board candidates, one vacant seat, and a school board president who made the pick on her own. These are the main ingredients of a legal conflict brewing in the Pueblo 70 school district, where a divided board has faced months of simmering tension over the district’s role in the opening of a “public Christian school” called Riverstone Academy.
- In a win for controversial ‘public Christian school,’ Pueblo County officials greenlight original site | Chalkbeat
- Pueblo D70 seeks its own attorney following recent board controversies | The Pueblo Chieftain
- Pueblo County School District 70 and its Board of Education could soon be represented by two different legal firms while both entities navigate the hiring of a new superintendent.
- Both the district and board are represented by Miller Farmer Carlson Law. In recent Pueblo D70 board meetings, several community members have called on the district and board to sever ties with the firm, alleging lead lawyer Brad Miller has pushed a politically conservative religious agenda in school districts statewide.
May 2026
- Pueblo D70 parts ways with controversial attorney Brad Miller | The Pueblo Chieftain
- Despite the administration’s decision to change its legal counsel for operations, Miller’s firm, Miller Farmer Carlson Law, remains the board attorney responsible for governance and policy matters. Professional services sought from Caplan and Earnest include those related to “truancy, and employee and student issues.“
June 2026
- New Pueblo D70 board member officially sworn in
- After a year of controversy, the leader of a shuttered ‘public Christian school’ is pitching a new venture | Chalkbeat
- The 10,000-student District 70 district is also coming off a tumultuous year peppered with conflicts over Riverstone. The school board faced infighting over a controversial school board vacancy appointment and accusations that some board members failed to recuse themselves from key votes in which they had conflicts of interest. The board is also embroiled in a lawsuit over open meeting violations stemming from Riverstone’s launch.
- After a year of controversy, the leader of a shuttered ‘public Christian school’ is pitching a new venture
- On Tuesday, Quin Friberg, former executive director of Riverstone Academy, asked the Pueblo County District 70 school board to consider contracting with a nonprofit he created last month called Keystone Education Services. His new pursuit comes after recent state law changes that will require some publicly funded enrichment programs to seek new authorizers. The changes also forced Riverstone, which was located in District 70, to close last month.
August 2026
- D70 board president called on to resign after ’embarrassing’ lawsuit | The Pueblo Chieftain
Sept. 2026
- Pueblo judge rules D70 school board appointment violated Colorado Open Meetings Law; Appeals ongoing | KOAA
- A Pueblo District Court judge has ruled that District 70’s appointment of a school board member violated Colorado’s Open Meetings Law, ordering the board to redo the voting process publicly.
- A Pueblo District Court judge has ruled that District 70’s appointment of a school board member violated Colorado’s Open Meetings Law, ordering the board to redo the voting process publicly.
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