6 Lone Tree Voice
September 23, 2021
MEETINGS FROM PAGE 1
People brought printouts of studies and held up information they said supports their stance opposing masking mandates in schools at an Aug. 24 school board meeting, at PHOTO BY JESSICA GIBBS times shouting to directors from the back of the room.
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Public comment had lasted hours. One speaker after another took to the lectern, most lambasting school board directors about COVID-19 precautions in schools, including a masking mandate. People cheered, shouted, jumped, flashed jazz hands, stood up in support of comments they agreed with and turned their backs on speakers they disagreed with. Throughout the meeting, Douglas County School Board President David Ray struggled to maintain order, repeatedly asking people to refrain from outbursts. Just shy of 11 p.m. that night, Director Krista Holtzmann said she wanted to address misinformation shared about the coronavirus during public comment. She spoke for nearly a minute, urging people to rely on public health agencies when sourcing information about the pandemic, including the TriCounty Health Department. (The health agency represents Douglas, Adams and Araphoe counties, although Douglas County commissioners are seeking to leave the agency amid disputes over COVID-19 responses.) Then audience members interjected. “You work for us, not for them,” a man said from the back of the room. Ray, the board president, cautioned that he would take a meeting break if interruptions did not stop. But people continued talking over him. Ray picked up his gavel and thumped the dais. The seven directors stood and walked out. “Tri-County is lying to you and you know it,” a man called to directors as they left. District leader reacts The scene at DCSD’s Aug. 24 board meeting was the latest in a string of public meetings, in Douglas County and elsewhere, where tensions and emotion have boiled over, often when COVID-19 precautions were the topic of discussion: • A raucous back-to-school town hall in early August where people booed DCSD Superintendent Corey Wise over mask rules. • A meeting where Douglas County commissioners were openly at odds about how to handle outbursts from a crowd listening to their discussions about mask mandates. • A county hearing where attendees shouted out as commissioners made their comments. It’s happening in a traditionally conservative county where all three county commissioners and many residents often have pushed back against school mask-wearing rules and other COVID-related restrictions. The discourse is testing public officials as they grapple with keeping decorum and giving people a space where they feel they can talk freely. For school board directors, that pressure comes as they also cope with a deluge of frustration directed squarely at them. At the end of the Aug. 24 school board meeting, Director Elizabeth Hanson resigned, not as director but as the board secretary, citing
the strain on her mental health from processing contentious emails sent to the board. “The derogatory names and extreme aggression directed at board directors are some of the worst I have ever seen,” Ray told Colorado Community Media by email as she was traveling. “The task of maintaining an orderly meeting pales compared to the task of protecting others from such egregious attacks on their mental health.” The district has weathered comparably tough times before, Ray said, but recent meeting behavior is still unusual. “Sadly, there is an increase nationwide of individuals disrupting school board meetings,” Ray said. “Social media sensationalizes these occurrences. In addition, there are political entities encouraging this behavior as a means to rile people up, especially in anticipation of an election.” At times during public comment periods, community members have reacted to recent meeting conduct. While some people said they do not approve, or were surprised by how much frustrations have escalated, occasional commenters have remarked that they could empathize with parents who are fed up with pandemic precautions.
Modeling ‘inappropriate behavior’ Ray said there will always be issues that lead to disagreements, and that public comment combined with emails that board members receive show a near-even split between people who support and oppose masking requirements. “I believe the emotional escalation of the mask issue is more of a reflection of the fatigue and extreme frustrations with enduring a global pandemic,” he said. Disorderly meetings can hinder directors from conducting district business, Ray said, like considering budgetary items. But decorum is about more than keeping meetings running smoothly — it’s also about providing a respectful and safe environment for everyone present, he said. At the Aug. 24 meeting, Ray went back and forth deciding whether to allow people to stand up when they heard comments they supported. He at first called the demonstration a good nonverbal way of expressing views during the meeting. Later he questioned whether allowing it was emboldening vocal outbursts and deterring people from sharing different views. Ray said by email that some of the behavior — such as people stomping when they stood up or “aggressive body movements” — fell short of providing “a safe space for those who wanted to share a different perspective.” “When there is a large number of people representing the same perspective, it is highly intimidating for someone to speak with a different perspective,” Ray said by email. “This intimidation is even more pronounced when some individuals heckle and shout disparaging things about a speaker’s comment that they disagree with.” Ray said raucous moments left him disappointed that “adults are modeling inappropriate behavior SEE MEETINGS, P7
