The Boulder Valley school board on Tuesday indicated support for two resolutions that will come back for a formal vote at a future meeting, one around inclusion of LGBTQ references in state standards and one on universal free lunch.
The first resolution encourages the state Board of Education to include more contributions of people in the LGBTQ community and people of color in Colorado’s social studies standards.
“We believe very strongly it’s the right thing to do,” said Boulder Valley board President Kathy Gebhardt.
The state board, which is set to vote on revised civics and history standards by December, is considering including fewer references to those communities in the standards for K-3 students, based on a committee’s recommendations.
The committee was created after the passage of House Bill 19-1192 in 2019, which requires public schools to teach the experiences and perspectives of people in the LGBTQ, Black, Latino and Native American communities. Some Democratic lawmakers have said the recent revisions don’t meet the intent of the law.
A review by The Denver Post found that 27 uses of the acronym “LGBTQ” were removed from the revised social studies standards. A May version of the document only mentioned the acronym five times.
Multiple people spoke at Tuesday’s meeting to urge Boulder Valley to lobby the state board to not move forward with the committee’s revisions.
Anne Guilfoile asked the school board members to act as protesters, while parent and Boulder County NAACP education committee member Venessa Marks said teachers need support to teach an inclusive curriculum.
“Our children need complete and accurate and inclusive history taught in their classrooms,” she said.
Boulder’s Neil Fishman talked about how isolating it was for him to attend elementary school in the 1960s, adding the state committee’s recommendation “feels like it’s 1962.”
“All our kids deserve better,” he said. “Let’s not backpedal on them.”
In its resolution, Boulder Valley’s school board “expresses its deep concern over the Colorado state Board of Education’s consideration of removal of representation of LGBTQ and BIPOC communities from lower grade standards.”
The resolution goes on to reaffirm the school board’s “commitment to policies that support and represent the diverse people and families in our communities” and to oppose any action by the state board to remove or limit representation in the standards.
School board member Richard Garcia noted that, no matter where the state board lands on the standards, Boulder Valley isn’t prohibited “from doing what’s right for students.” He added he plans to personally lobby the state board.
The second resolution supports a statewide universal free lunch ballot measure.
Proposition FF would create a state fund to reimburse school districts for the cost of meals for students who don’t qualify for federally subsidized lunches. It was added to the ballot by the state Legislature through HB22-1414. If approved, the change would go into effect in the 2023-24 school year.
Boulder Valley leaders say universal free lunch reduces stigma and ensures all students have the option of eating a healthy lunch. Families who are close to the income cutoff for free lunch benefits also are especially hard hit by the return to paying for lunches given the area’s high cost of housing, leaders say.
In the summer, the federal government failed to extend the pandemic waivers that made school breakfasts and lunches free for all students, no paperwork required. About 20% of Boulder Valley’s students receive federally subsidized lunches.
The Denver Post contributed to this report.
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