WOODLAND PARK, Colo. — The state educators' union and its Woodland Park chapter are suing the town's school district and board over a recently enacted media policy the union claims violates their right to free speech.
The federal lawsuit filed Friday claims the district in Teller County is now keeping staff from speaking out.
The policy established the following new rules:
- No employee shall be interviewed by the media regarding school operations or student matters or offer quote without the prior written consent of the superintendent.
- No social media posts regarding district or school decisions will be made by employees of the school district without prior written consent of the district communications office.
- Violation of this policy will be considered to be insubordination.
The unions are asking a judge to overturn the policy. According to the lawsuit, they also plan to seek a preliminary injunction to block the policy.
"We certainly see it as an extension of the ways that the district is creating, you know, these political culture wars. And it certainly is serving to act as a distraction. It's taking the focus of educators away from what they know and do best educating the students of the Woodland Park School District," Amie Baca-Ohelert, president of the Colorado Education Association, said.
The unions claim it's an effort to silence staff following the resignation of nearly one-third of the district's staff this year.
"Once implemented, it had an immediate chilling effect on educators and their feelings, that they were able to be a voice for that speak about their working conditions, which are students learning conditions," Baca-Ohelert said. "It certainly has had an impact to the point that many educators who had been there for you know, lifelong career educators in the Woodland Park School District made the decision to leave the district."
District staff say they were kept in the dark about revisions to the policy. The changes were passed in February of this year. The lawsuit alleges there is no record of a meeting to change the media policy, which would violate Colorado's Open Meeting Law.
Woodland Park staff were informed of the changes in March via a schoolwide email, according to the suit.
The suit also claims the district is targeting union members by auto-enrolling staff with the Professional Assocation of Colorado Educators (PACE). Their website describes PACE as "non-union" and against labor demonstrations, like strikes and walkouts.
According to the lawsuit, many Woodland Park union members "have attempted to opt out of the liability coverage and District administration has denied their request and informed staff that they cannot opt out of liability insurance through membership in PACE."
In an email to a staff member, the administration said that the district has already paid for the membership, but staff don't have to use it.
For such a small school district, Woodland Park's policies have recently drawn national attention.
The conservative board has adopted right-wing social studies standards and hired Ken Witt, a former conservative school reformer from Jefferson County, to be superintendent. It's also one of a handful of conservative school districts that opted out of mental health screenings for students.
In an email to 9NEWS Friday, Witt called the lawsuit a "coordinated political attack" by progressive groups following the district's "recent pivot to parent and student friendly policies and practices."
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