Join the teachers and staff of Woodland Park by signing the petition to call on the current school board to reinstate state-approved social studies standards, to reapply for the grant funding that is allocated towards mental health support in our schools, and to prioritize our children’s futures over politics. Read the full letter from the teachers and staff of Woodland Park School District below. 

Dear Members of the Woodland Park Community:

We, the teachers and staff of Woodland Park, are writing because we are deeply concerned about the direction that Ken Witt and the current school board are taking our district and the effect that will have on the broader community. We feel that in the face of the current administration's attack on our students’ learning environments, we can no longer stay silent. We must utilize our Constitutional rights to speak out against what we feel is incompetent leadership actively harming our students and community. It pains us to write this because we deeply love our students and the community of Woodland Park. But it has become abundantly clear to us that the direction that Ken Witt and the school board are taking our schools is unsustainable and detrimental to our students and our greater community.

Right now, the students at Woodland Park schools are missing out on the quality education of their predecessors. This is a direct result of dangerous decisions like refusing funding for mental health support, implementing the American Birthright Standards, and leaving parents and teachers out of these crucial decisions of the current elected school board and superintendent. We lost close to 40% of our teachers and staff last year. It is our students who are suffering the most because of that loss. Our students have lost decades of institutional knowledge that only years of direct pedagogical instruction can replicate. We regret the circumstances are such that these respected and valued teachers and staff saw no choice but to leave the classrooms and schools they loved. 

In addition to the loss of institutional knowledge, we’re deeply concerned about the adoption of the American Birthright Standards. We believe that our job as educators is to prepare our students for the future. These state-rejected social studies standards are putting our kids’ futures at risk. Many social studies courses that our students took in the past are no longer NCAA accredited due to the change in standards. This means when our students want to register to be eligible to play college sports, they can no longer count these unaccredited classes towards those requirements. We need to ensure that our students are college-ready, if they choose to pursue that path, and the American Birthright Standards do not measure up to the rigorous academic standards that Woodland Park has prided itself on in the past. 

Preparing our students for success also means ensuring that their social and emotional needs are being met, and right now, the mental health support in our schools is woefully inadequate to meet the current demand. The School Board chose not to renew $1.2 million in grant funding which had previously been used to support student mental health services. This resulted in the reduction of 15 mental health positions, such as school counselors. We strongly believe that mental health is integral to academic success and that students must be treated as the developing young minds that they are. Cutting funding for mental health support in our schools when students are facing a variety of challenges and changes both at home and in school was entirely the wrong decision to make. This cut is both short sighted and dangerous. Our community is stronger and safer when our students have adequate mental health support. 

Finally, as teachers and staff in Woodland Park, we feel that we cannot continue to work under the current culture of fear and silence created by the school board. We are concerned that, eventually, the current district administration will drive everyone away, and the ones who will suffer the most are our students and our community at large. 

As teachers, staff, and members of this community, we stand together, knowing that we might face illegal repercussions for this letter. However, standing up for our students' futures depends on taking action now.  As teachers, parents, and members of this community, our voices cannot be silenced any longer. We implore you, the members of our beloved community, to call on the current school board to reinstate state-approved social studies standards, to reapply for the grant funding that is allocated towards mental health support in our schools, and to prioritize our children’s futures over politics. 

Sincerely,

Woodland Park Teachers and Staff

1. Kayla Garcia
2. Nicole Vergenz
3. Giuseppe Depietro
4. Amy Smith
5. Anna Hand
6. Justin Benjamin
7. Eric Aragon
8. Mindy Wiley
9. Amanda Wahl
10. Mike Schoudel
11. Kelly Bradley
12. Lisa Harding
13. Logun Javernick
14. Cathy Martin
15. Jessica Stewart
16. Ryan Schultz
17. Stefanie Rohman
18. Amber Hemingson
19. Laura Ferguson
20. Kelly Schmidt
21. Deanna McHenry
22. Lindsay Orellana
23. Jennifer Brocious
24. Nathaniel Owen
25. Malgozata Drews
26. Savannah Teetor
27. Blaine Miller
28. Linene Blanton-Kleppe
29. Stephen Feinland
30. Madeline Del Rio
31. Lisa Wedhoff
32. Michelle Manning
33. Andrea Matthews
34. Kristin Zeller
35. Teresa Davies
36. Wanda Gordon
37. Heather Macari
38. Carli Deleruyelle
39. Yvonne Goings
40. Monika Fraser
41. Jessica Ricks
42. Cynthia Ingram
43. Emily Gabaldon
44. Ashli Schultz
45. Teri Goldberg
46. Ruth Flesher
47. Shellie Lasiter-Read
48. Nicole Melby
49. Michelle Studwell
50. Lee Anne Friedrich
51. Leslie Conrad
52. Margaret Rudin
53. Samantha Ware
54. Leslie Shaw
55. Michelle Howell
56. Holly Torres
57. Trecia Garrick
58. Lynn Zupans
59. Barb Wieben
60. Beth Woods
61. Connie Knowles
62. Aubry Martin
63. Kristi Hensley
64. Anne Gatlin
65. Jayne Bourdon
66. Thomas Kindt
67. Mary Crade
68. Ann Cummings
69. Alexis Hansford
70. Selene Hernandez
71. Darice Pamperin
72. Asa Ansong
73. Shania Myers
74. Donna Knox
75. Jill Connolly
76. Wanda Bingham
77. Lauren Richardson
78. Christie Miller
79. Rene Wisniewski
80. Alana Purling
81. Victoria Wallace