Candidates vying for Colorado school board talk safety, girls' sports, collective bargaining

In two weeks, Douglas County voters will weigh in on who will shape the next chapter of public education in their Colorado community. Eight candidates are vying for four open spots on the Douglas County School District RE-1 Board of Education.

While the race is nonpartisan, one slate of four candidates is more conservative, and another slate of four candidates is more progressive. The board is comprised of seven members in total.

Clark Callahan, a charter school administrator, former teacher and father of three DCSD students, is part of the progressive Community's Voice, Community's Choice slate, along with Kyrzia Parker, Tony Ryan and Kelly Denzler.

"I really want to help create a system that works for all kids," Callahan told CBS Colorado.

Matt Smith, a veteran, former deputy and father of a DCSD student, is running as part of the conservative Common Sense DCSD slate, along with Keaton Gambill, Dede Kramer and Steve Vail.

"Things are going really, really well for both teachers and students here, and so we want to keep focus on academics," Smith told CBS Colorado.

Smith said top priorities of his slate include academic excellence and protecting parents' rights.

"Making sure that parents know what's going on in the classroom and to make sure that they have the ability to opt their children into things," Smith said. "Our belief is that parents have the right to dictate their child's beliefs, their values and things like that. So we don't want school to be a place where they're surprised at what their children are being exposed to."

When asked if he would support banning a book some parents were concerned about, Smith said he favors an opt-in process.

"We support a parent's effort to opt their child in into that book," Smith said. "When it comes to that kind of material, I know right now, at the start of every school year, I have to opt my child in for him to be able to watch certain movies inside of the school and things like that. So I see it as a very similar process to that."

Protecting girls' sports and privacy is the number two priority for the Common Sense slate.

"That means keeping biological boys out of girls' sports, their bathrooms and their locker rooms," Smith said.

"I think it's important for us to focus on girls' and women's sports. I think their focus is in the wrong place," Callahan said.

Callahan said high school athletics decisions are made by the Colorado High School Activities Association, not school boards, and says there's no evidence biological males are trying to play on girls' teams in Douglas County.

"It's not widespread here in Douglas County," Smith said. "We're trying to take a more proactive approach with things going on around the country."

"The folks that we're running with have over 30 years of experience in public education and are really focused on making decisions based ... on the best interest of kids, and not some political party that is telling us what to do," Callahan said.

Callahan said his slate will prioritize data over politics, multiple pathways to student success and safety.

"School safety is one of our top priorities, and, I think, for our schools to be safe, we really need a multi-tiered system," Callahan said.

Callahan supports school resource officers, safety improvements to buildings and supporting student mental and emotional health.

Smith's slate also prioritizes safety, supports SROs, and wants to support teachers in maintaining order in their classrooms and addressing bullying.

Both slates support charter schools.

"We want to make sure that parents are able to choose the right kind of school that best supports their child, whether that be a neighborhood school, a charter school, a private school, home school or online school," Smith said.

"What we want is to have a healthy ecosystem of schools," Callahan said. "Charter schools, at their best, really provide great opportunities that are sometimes a little bit different than what the district offers. I think what we have to do is make sure that we continue to have a wide array of different opportunities for kids, and I think the best way to do that is for the district to make sure that they follow their own processes."

Callahan added that he did not support the current board's action to allow controversial charter school John Adams Academy to bypass their authorization and seek approval through the state charter school authorizer -- Colorado Charter School Institute.

The candidates have different opinions on the current board.

"The current conservative majority has done a complete turnaround of this district and got us up to the number one in the metro area," Smith said. "So we just want to continue that."

"The current board made some really big mistakes and broke the law kind of early on in their term, and it cost the district hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees," Callahan said. "We want to keep money in classrooms and out of courtrooms."

The Common Sense DCSD slate is endorsed by the Douglas County GOP, while the "Community's Voice" slate is endorsed by Douglas County Democrats, the local teachers union, Gun Sense Voter, Denver Area Labor Federation and Planned Parenthood.

"It's just odd because there's not a Planned Parenthood in Douglas County at all," Smith said.

The Community's Voice, Community's Choice slate website says, "Two of our candidates sought approval from Planned Parenthood, but all of our candidates share the same belief that students deserve medically accurate, science-based health education, an approach proven to reduce teen pregnancy and support informed, healthy choices."

Smith said the Common Sense slate does not support a collective bargaining agreement for teachers.

"We don't see a lot of value in it here when a lot of the teachers right now are happy," Smith said.

"No one on our slate has committed to a collective bargaining agreement," Callahan said. "What I think we are really eager to do is to sit down and listen to teachers and all educators, and listen to what they need to be successful in the classroom and working with our kids."