SEE MEETINGS

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 times shouting to directors from the back of the room. PHOTO BY JESSICA GIBBS

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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, fl ashed 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 offi cials 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 refl ection 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 fi rst 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

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for children,” and worried someone would be “emotionally hurt.”

He also felt anxiety “for our law enforcement who are present to protect everyone in the room.”

County commissioners’ debate

Douglas County’s board of commissioners ran into a similar situation at their Aug. 19 meeting where they decided to opt out of a Tri-County mask mandate for students and teachers in schools. During the first few public speakers, the audience, which filled up the hearing room and an overflow room, clapped in reaction to those supporting the opt-out.

After it happened several times, Commissioner Lora Thomas, who was serving as the chair that day, attempted to bring order to the room.

“We really want to hear from you so we’re just asking for some order in here so everybody can come up and speak, and we’re not going to have clapping in here please,” she said.

Moments later, Commissioner Abe Laydon broke in with his own perspective about the applause.

“As a point of personal privilege I’m going to ask the chair to walk back that decision. I think all of these people took their time out of their day to be here and as one commissioner, I’m OK with you expressing yourself however you’d like,” he said.

The audience responded with more claps and shouts of “thank you.”

Then, during the rest of the meeting, attendees cheered in support of those who spoke in favor of opting out of the mask mandate and shouted out at the few speakers who spoke against it.

One speaker who opposed the county’s decision to opt out of the mask mandate began her comments with “My viewpoint differs from the majority here, but it’s still a valid opinion and please don’t laugh, as I didn’t laugh at you.”

Commissioner Thomas wrote in an email to Colorado Community Media after the meeting that the audience’s “emotional outbursts” had prevented those with the minority opinion from having a fair opportunity to express their views.

“This was a public hearing for all citizens to address their government to ensure that their voices were heard. And we failed,” she wrote. “We are left to wonder how many more decided not to speak because of the hostile atmosphere in that room.”

‘It’s just disappointing’

Another speaker who called into the hearing virtually and spoke against the opt-out, Brian Clarke, was repeatedly interrupted by laughs and jeers during his comments to the commissioners.

Clarke said in an interview with Colorado Community Media that he was distracted by the audience’s outbursts during his comments.

“It’s just disappointing. It feels like a mob mentality when you have people feeding off each other’s energy. A room full of people that all agree with one another and don’t want to hear anything that doesn’t reinforce their position, it’s just disappointing,” he said.

Commissioners also ran into struggles maintaining decorum during an April 27 meeting where Commissioners Laydon and George Teal proposed a resolution to censure Thomas over a dispute among the board members. Attendees repeatedly shouted out their reactions and comments from the gallery as the commissioners made comments from the dais.

The commissioners discussed the future of hearing room decorum during an Aug. 24 work session.

“Historically, all boards have asked for speech to be directed to the commissioners only, to wait until it’s their turn and not to have the emotion and outbursts from the audience because it is disruptive,” County Attorney Lance Ingalls said. “It can also be stifling to other people.”

Ingalls went on to say it’s up to the board how they will handle hearing room decorum and Thomas asked for a specific policy on the issue going forward.

“I think there needs to be a constant, a steady rule for the whole room so that the chair is not using his or her bias to decide who can have emotional outbursts and who cannot,” she said.

Thomas added that the state legislature does not allow applause or outbursts during testimonies.

‘I would ask for respect’

Laydon defended his stance on allowing applause in the room.

“What we saw in our hearing was reflective of the level of emotion and the level of desire that our citizens have to be able to express themselves freely under the First Amendment,” Laydon said. “I think bad things happen when we decide to silence our public and tell them that our voices are more important than theirs.”

Thomas responded that asking for decorum isn’t silencing anyone.

“When people are clapping and cheering and shouting down people, that is when we are inhibiting people’s First Amendment rights,” she said.

Laydon pressed on, stating he believes that a certain level of applause from the audience is orderly, but that jeering and intimidation are not.

“For citizens to take a day off of work to sit in a four-hour meeting, to tell them to just sit there and be quiet, I don’t know any parent in this county that’s going to respond well to that. And I’m not going to be part of it,” he said.

Commissioner Teal voiced support of Laydon’s point of view and the commissioners moved on from the topic.

At the start of a Sept. 7 meeting where the commissioners planned to vote on the formation of their own health department, Laydon, then serving as chair, asked for order before public comment began.

“In Douglas County we welcome freedom of speech and your opinions,” Laydon said. “I would ask for respect, order and decorum in this hearing room. We’ll allow for that to occur but at any time if it is out of order or disrespectful I will call the meeting back to order.”

September is National Suicide Prevention Month

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Funds available to veterans

Emergency assistance is available for veterans struggling with housing (mortgage/rent), transportation, employment, healthcare or other emergency needs. To apply for the veterans assistance funds visit douglasveterans.org or call 303-663-6200.

Behind on your rent caused by COVID-19 impacts?

Funds are available to assist Douglas County residents who rent an apartment or house and are impacted by COVID-19 and struggling to pay their utility bills or rent. See if you qualify and apply today at douglas.co.us/

rent-assistance

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Renew your driver license or motor vehicle registration and more from the convenience of your smartphone, tablet, desktop or laptop. You can also renew vehicle registrations at MVExpress kiosks. Find information at

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Free Electronics Recycling

Douglas County residents may dispose of unwanted electronics free of charge at Techno Rescue, 3251 Lewiston St. in Aurora. Drop off weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and occasional Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Proof of residency is required. For a list of acceptable items, Saturday drop-off dates and more visit

douglas.co.us/community-recycling

What’s happening with your County government?

Our commitment to open and transparent government includes online posting of information about public meetings at which the business of government is conducted. To view public meeting agendas, participate in-person or remotely, or watch select meetings via live stream visit douglas.co.us and search for Meetings and Agendas.

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Castle Rock Mayor Pro Tem Kevin Bracken.

PHOTO BY JESSICA GIBBS

MORE ON THE MASK DEBATE ONLINE

Since this newspaper went to press, Colorado Community Media reporters have been following fast-moving developments in the ongoing debate over school COVID-safety mask-wearing policies and the Tri-County Health Department. For the latest news, visit ColoradoCommunityMedia.com.

Agency refutes claims of ‘censorship,’ hears claim of ‘compromised’ board members

BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Kevin Bracken, Douglas County’s newest representative on the TriCounty Health Department board — a longtime critic of the agency — has asked it to investigate what he alleges was “illegal” activity regarding the video recording of the board’s Aug. 30 meeting.

And another Douglas County representative to the board, Linda Fielding, accused fellow board members of being “compromised” at the meeting.

The Aug. 30 meeting saw contentious exchanges between Tri-County offi cials leading up to the agency’s decision to require mask wearing by everyone inside schools as a COVID-19 safety measure and to repeal the ability of counties to opt out of its public health orders.

Those actions have met with stout opposition from Douglas County’s elected commissioners, who are taking steps to pull the county out of its 55-year-old relationship with Tri-County, the public-health agency for Douglas, Adams and Arapahoe counties. The Douglas County School District is enforcing the mask rule, however.

Kevin Bracken emailed his accusations to other Tri-County board members, along with elected leaders in the three counties. The email was forwarded to Colorado Community Media by Douglas County Commissioner George Teal.

In his email, Bracken referred to

SEE ACCUSATIONS, P16

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Masks protect vulnerable, curb spread, keep schools open, they say

BY JESSICA GIBBS JGIBBS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Heidi Reasoner felt a sense of relief when the Douglas County School District began requiring masks as a COVID-19 safety measure, fi rst for students in preschool through sixth grade and later for all people inside district buildings older than 2.

Reasoner is immunocompromised. The Ponderosa High School teacher was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder about a year ago, which causes her immune system to attack itself. She is fully vaccinated against COVID-19 but still leery of contracting the virus, she said, which her body would struggle with if she caught it when off her medication.

“It was scary at fi rst to get diagnosed with this and have this life-altering thing happening right in the middle of a pandemic,” she said.

Amid protests and tense school board meetings, where many families have voiced vehement opposition to mask mandates, other Douglas County families are nervously hoping the district stays its course — particularly as the county creates its own health department, which would void TriCounty Health Department’s mask mandate for people in schools 2 and older.

Several people contacted Colorado Community Media to express their support for masking and mask-wearing rules, but declined interviews, were not available or did not respond to further requests for comment.

People who declined interviews or asked they not be named in this story cited concerns about retaliation from community members who oppose masking.

A Ponderosa High School student who supports masking spoke to Colorado Community Media on the condition she not be named for fear of brushback among students.

“A lot of kids at my school get very intense about the mask mandate, specifi cally the kids who think that there’s no point,” she said.

The student said she grew frustrated watching student walkouts protesting mask requirements, saying masks are a simple step to curb COVID’s spread. She wore her mask in hallways or in crowded spaces before a mandate for high school students but would remove it if sitting at lunch with people she knew.

Once masks became required, she followed that policy.

“Mandating them, it seemed reasonable to me. There’s a lot of kids who wouldn’t wear them otherwise and a lot of kids who still don’t,” she said.

The Ponderosa student said there is enough evidence showing masks help contain COVID-19’s spread. But 10 years from now, if that is proven otherwise, she won’t regret masking, she said.

“Even if they were right about none of the science mattering, there is nothing wrong with trying to help other people,” she said.

Another Douglas County parent who supports mandates, Erica, asked that Colorado Community Media refer to her by fi rst name only, also out of concern that her family would receive backlash in the community.

Erica’s son is a sophomore at Highlands Ranch High School and her daughter attends Cresthill Middle School. Both her children voluntarily wore masks from the fi rst day of school, she said.

“My stance is to follow the science and listen to the experts who have spent a lot of time in their respective fi eld to be able to provide recommendations,” she said.

Erica and her children estimated about 60% of students started wearing masks correctly once mandates began, but that few students masked when it was voluntary.

Erica said the lack of masking left her with intense anxiety, especially as case rates climbed among school-age students in Douglas County. Watching mask protests and parents condemn mandates at school board meetings left her demoralized.

“It just feels like it’s a losing battle,” she said. “I’m so exhausted from the outrage and the anxiety that I feel like I’m kind of just going numb.”

Reasoner’s daughter Zaida attends fi fth grade at Sedalia Elementary and masked before mandates came down. Zaida estimated about 10% of students voluntarily masked at the start of the school year.

Zaida said most students were respectful of her choice to wear a face covering, but she faced occasional pressure to stop.

“Some kids were telling me to just take my mask off. They told me that my mom wouldn’t even know about it,” she said. “I told them I would keep it on.”

She’s glad the district is requiring them, and believes students are more protected, she said.

In addition to being vulnerable to COVID-19, Reasoner experienced a loss during the pandemic. Her father died in November from COVID-19. Being unable to visit with him as he fought the virus or plan a normal funeral was diffi cult on the entire family, she said.

As she watched people in the district protest mask mandates, she wondered how many have experienced the pandemic’s toll on a personal level.

“They really don’t see the bigger picture of who we are trying to protect,” she said. “We’re trying to protect everybody, not just the vulnerable.”

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Adding experience to life’s greatest teachers

This column is dedicated to all the wonderful and committed teachers in our communities. Before the pandemic began, they already had my deepest respect. So, a big shoutout to each teacher in my life who helped me in some way along life’s journey, I appreciate you all so much.

Teachers have a special gift and calling. And yet teachers are also grossly overworked and underpaid, and in many cases, overly criticized and underappreciated. All of this has become amplifi ed over the past 19 months as our already stretched education system is caught in the collateral damage of the pandemic and other societal pressure points.

Masks, vaccinations, social distancing, hybrid learning, confl icting curriculums, forced curriculum change mandates, belief systems and constrained budgets all coming to a boil of disruption at the same time. My admiration for the teaching community only increases as they continue to pour into their students while giving tirelessly of themselves.

By the way, I am including the entire teaching community. Educators at every level, coaches, mentors, trainers, corporate learning teams. Each person who has a platform to develop their students, learners, and those they coach must deal with the very same things as someone who is teaching in a classroom, teaching virtually, or in some hybrid delivery model.

What can we talk about? What can’t we say? Where are the boundaries? Are there any boundaries? How do we stay healthy? How can we keep our students safe? Is what we taught yesterday still relevant, let alone accepted today? Are there new skills, thoughts and theories that need to be explored? These are just a few of the variables and curveballs being thrown at those responsible for our education and personal and professional development.

Here is the upside. Never in history has the learning community been in such a position to acquire knowledge through academic, coaching, and training best practices coupled with access to information. And never has there been a time where

we have had the opportunity to experience life with all its confl icts, contrasts, and challenges that we are living through today. Teaching theory, providing structure and concepts for problem-solving are important. And when we add the WINNING potency of real-world experiential learning to the solid fundamentals WORDS and advanced applications of teaching we have an enormous opportunity for growth. Some believe that experience is life’s greatest teacher. This is only true if we learn from those experiences. The important thing is that when we fail, and we will, that we learn from that failure. Equally as important is that when we succeed, Michael Norton we learn from our successes. If we will let it, life has so much to teach

SEE NORTON, P13

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Vote yes on 2E for city’s future

As my Lone Tree neighbors consider ballot issue 2E, I have some questions for them:

Have you ever had to negotiate trash service? And then fi nd out the price didn’t include recycling?

Have you lived in a neighborhood where you have to look at trash cans and trucks on your streets most weekdays because each company has a different schedule?

Have you thought about the wear and tear these large trucks have on neighborhood and city streets?

Have you asked where the money comes from to repair these streets?

If you live in Lone Tree, the answer to each of these questions is likely “no.”

You have not had to arrange trash services because the City of Lone Tree’s incorporation committee some 25 years ago made a commitment to be environmentally and fi scally responsible by providing single trash once per week and single recycling services to each home every other week. Their actions have saved our streets and helped out our pocketbooks tremendously.

This is the Lone Tree Way. Measure 2E is the way to remain environmentally conscious. 2E will safeguard our street maintenance budget and keep our streets quite. Measure 2E saves your household approximately $40 per month.

The Lone Tree Way is the way to vote in November. Vote yes on 2E!

For more information about the benefi ts of Measure 2E, please visit citizensforlonetreesfuture.com. Susan Squyer Lone Tree

SEE LETTERS, P13

Can we really prevent suicide? Maybe

It’s no secret that Colorado has one of the highest suicide rates in the nation. But what remains elusive is why and what we can do about it to truly make a signifi cant difference. As the former state legislator who led the establishment of the Colorado Suicide Prevention Commission, and a commissioner serving on it now, my commitment to fi nding the answer is fi erce. But as a suicide-loss survivor, my drive for this quest is even stronger.

By now, almost everyone probably knows that it is Suicide Prevention Month across the country.

I could go on and on with a whole bunch of statistics alarming you of the too-often occurrence of someone killing themselves in Colorado, but instead, let’s focus on what we can do to potentially prevent it.

It is not only up to therapists, hospitals, and the government to take action. Yes, we can continue to focus on it and build an infrastructure of systems and resources that people in need can use. And in Colorado, we’re doing a good job of that, considering the lean state budgets we have.

But what can you and I do to stop anyone from harming themselves? Well, if we’re too late in the process, we can sometimes do nothing, honestly. And in those circumstances, we will hopefully not allow ourselves to feel guilt or ask ourselves, “What could I have done?”

Sometimes, we are completely unaware of what’s going on inside another person, and there’s nothing we can do about it.

However, there are some proactive things we can do to “set the infrastructure” in our families and relationships that can make a big difference, and even save a life. Let’s talk about our children, for instance.

We may not want to admit it, but the statistics show that in Colorado, some children are considering ending their own lives as early as 6 years old. Why? What drives a child to think about that or even think of suicide as an option? And what can we do to prevent that?

Research tells us that one of the most effective protective factors against youth suicide is the child having a relationship with at least one trusted adult.

As an example, this one supportive relationship can be a parent, family member, teacher, minister, or therapist. Having someone who can listen, give loving advice, or just intentionally sit with them occasionally can be profound in them feeling heard and being ac-

cepted just as they are. That then can lead to feeling cared about and a sense of hope in the surrounding community. GUEST As minor as this may sound, this one act can make a big difference COLUMN in a child’s mental well-being. So, prioritizing our time with our kiddos and using empathy and listening skills can serve as a protective shield against them having thoughts of hopelessness or selfharm that can lead to suicide. If we all took the time to act proactively by creating more loving and supportive relationships Linda Newell Linda Newell with each other, that one act could eventually be saving a life. Don’t wait till it’s too far down the line and they’re cutting themselves, abusing drugs or alcohol, or showing signs of actual suicidal thoughts. Let’s do what we can preventively in our own families and community before it’s too late. If you or a loved one is having thoughts of self-harm or suicide, please reach out to your therapist or call 800-273-8255 or 911.

Former Colorado state senator, now with a master’s in Social Justice and Ethics from Iliff School of Theology, Linda Newell is a writer, speaker, facilitator, and confl ict/ DEI consultant. Senlindanewell@ gmail.com, www.lindanewell.org, www.senlindanewell.com, @sennewell on Twitter, Senator Linda Newell or @TheLastBill on Facebook.

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A legal newspaper of general circulation in Lone Tree, Colorado, the Voice is published weekly on Thursday by Colorado Community Media, 9233 Park Meadows Dr., Lone Tree, CO 80124. Send address change to: Lone Tree Voice, 750 W. Hampden Ave., Suite 225, Englewood, CO 80110