To the concerned students, teachers, staff, parents, and community members of Woodland Park School District:

Since the time of writing this update, we have 458 signatures from this petition. I wanted to first and foremost thank you all for stepping up and doing what is right. While this is a great step forward, there have been several extremely concerning events that have taken place since the petition was launched. I kindly ask you to read this update in its entirety and be sure to share this petition with family, friends, and those who may share worries. 

Link: https://www.change.org/SaveOurWPSD

1. On Monday, 12/19, there was a scheduled meeting to voice student concerns and questions with Mr. Witt if he were to be hired, this being planned the week before. On the morning of the meeting, students of this group including myself got word that the event was abruptly cancelled. The Board President kindly came to speak to us in a timely manner, and offered to ask 3-4 of our top questions for Mr. Witt at the District Accountability Committee interview scheduled that evening, telling us that he would reserve his questions for ours in place of the cancellation. These questions were clearly and precisely written to be delivered to him before the meeting that evening.
   • The reason for the cancelled meeting between students and the prospective interim superintendent? It would not be a "customary" action. How can a meeting to listen to student voices in a district Mr. Witt may run be non-customary when the entire hiring process thus far has been utterly non-customary itself? Please, research typical superintendent hiring processes, timelines, and "customs", and compare that to our own board's timelines.
2. At the District Accountability Committee interview held the same day starting at 6pm of 12/19, Mr. Witt was given exceedingly undemanding and staged questions by the DAC, all of which he could answer by talking around the material at hand, in many of such questions he stated activities, processes, extracurriculars, and customs our district already offers. When asked how he has/will deal with cyberbullying, he replied with the concept of teaching kids "how to cope". Never, throughout nearly all of the meeting, did he offer any solution to our current district problems (other than vague responses), such as the ideas of creating better curriculum and student/teacher retention, which isn't an answer to any question in specific detail. This recording can be viewed on the District's YouTube page.
3. As mentioned previously, Board President Rusterholtz so graciously offered to answer student questions during the Board Director's interviewing time with Mr. Witt. He stated the first two questions elected to be asked in perfect clarity (both were answered passively from the material and not to the point, however). Then came the third elected question. Mr. Rusterholtz stated, and I quote, "So, students want to feel valued, in terms of their voice, and, um, there was, there were some things that have been brought up about, uh, you had addressed bullying before. So, is there an, another thing that, um, they want to know is how will they feel valued and not bullied by your approach of style of leadership?" This was not the question sent to him whatsoever. This was the question intended to be asked: "By means of your cancellation to meet with high school students this morning and hear our questions, how can we possibly feel valued in terms of our voice, especially if there has been a previous investigation into your 'willful disparagement and attempted intimidation' (supportjeffcokids.org) of a 17 year old student?" It seems as if important issues are being refused awareness, and it seems to be that once more, student voices are being silenced and thrown disregard. It was claimed that the third question was disrespectful. The third question asks in a simple and straightforwardly urgent manner to explain some of the finalists past choices and how we can feel safe if he moves forward. There was not one question during this meeting that brought up any bad side of Mr. Witt's past, such as his 115 thousand person recall, investigation into intimidating and singling out a minor, and his criticism of important history curriculum. We cannot let the board and this man get away with this iniquitous behavior in our wonderful district.
4. With this, I bring myself to the last point of this update: the safety, stability, and mental well-being of our great district and environment depends on you, the concerned citizens, students, parents, teachers, and community members. I urge you to SHOW UP to the next Special Board Meeting, Wednesday the 21th of December at 6pm. It will be held in the Large District Conference Room and live-streamed here, in the "Live" category. This meeting includes the board's vote on Mr. Ken Witt (who they will most likely hire after the vote). They will also likely go into a closed-door session to converse over a beloved staff member who has been put on administrative leave. It is to be believed that this staff member will be unfairly fired. There is no public comment, but SHOWING UP SENDS A MESSAGE. Writing letters to the Board Directors and the DAC will voice how we feel as a community. This is the meeting agenda: https://wpsdk12.org/uploads/siteImages/2022-12-21-Special-Board-Meeting.pdf

In summary: Thank you for your support and action as a community. It is now time that we begin to push for full speed ahead and make it known we do not agree with the actions this board is taking to hire a thoroughly dangerous interim superintendent. The student and teacher moral in the high school is that of doom, anxiety, and dread. Today was quite possibly the hardest day many staff have faced this year, and students have felt continuously blown off and silenced by the board despite our many protests and questions. The time to take action in the form of civic duty through letter-writing, signing this petition, and showing up to board meetings is NOW! Thank you for your time. 

Once more, please share with as many people as possible that may take concern to these issues: https://www.change.org/SaveOurWPSD