Durango’s School Board Debacle: Radical Rot, Predator Blind Spots, and a Herald Hug

By Heidi Ganahl | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice

Durango used to be the kind of place where families felt good about sending their kids to school. But things shifted over the years —and not in a good way. With a critical school board election just days away, parents are speaking out. And what they’re saying is hard to ignore.

What I learned from the families who helped shape the Durango Dirty Dozen series was both heartbreaking and hopeful. They painted a clear picture of a district losing touch with its mission—and of a community ready to fight back. 

They told me about confusing bathroom rules, lavish DEI spending, and a media outlet more interested in enabling coverups than accountability. Their message was clear: kids are being left behind.

Let’s start with bathrooms. The board reversed the superintendent’s policy and gave the green light for students to use whichever restroom matches their “identity.” 

Hunter Opilla, a father of three, called it like he saw it. “It’s like enabling an addict,” he told me. He believes it compromises privacy and safety. State law? Twisted to fit the narrative. It calls for single-stall options in new buildings—not open-access based on self-ID.

And when parents email to ask questions or raise concerns, they’re met with blank stares or silence. Meanwhile, gender support plans allow counselors to help kids socially transition—without even telling parents. 

Then came the decision to bring back Pride and BLM flags after a short-lived ban. The board says it’s about inclusion. Many parents see it as a political statement that doesn’t belong in the classroom.

The resolution that followed doubled down—affirming support for identity-based student groups and emphasizing “equity” over equality. But while the board talks about feelings and flags, test scores keep slipping.

And don’t get me started on the money trail. The district spent $69,000 on a single DEI training day. That’s money that could’ve gone toward raises, supplies, or academic support. Instead, it went to lectures. 

Meanwhile, a promising charter school proposal—based on classical education—got tossed aside. Kim Gilmartin and her team had 650 interested families. The board called it “ideologically opposed.”

A federal civil rights complaint now alleges the district’s recruitment practices put race over merit. 

If you’re wondering how far the politics go, try this: Katie Stewart, a sitting board member, used a district-wide email list to push her State House run. The Secretary of State fined her for it. The board? Nothing but silence.

But the worst part? A former middle school band teacher, Benjamin Smith, was indicted on 48 federal counts involving child pornography and grooming minors. Reports say he was viewed as a “safe space” for LGBTQ kids. The district’s response? More forced training–aimed at helping teachers unpack their so-called implicit bias. 

No serious review of how he was hired or how red flags were missed. Critics say the district’s obsession with identity politics blinded staff to real threats.

Yet the Herald editorial board endorses “continuing momentum” for the board, framing challengers as partisans while soft‑pedaling the radicals’ excesses. Coverage of the candidate forum glossed over flags and funding fights, where Erika Brown (District A), Jody Trampp (District A), Rick Petersen (District C), Pearl Stegner (District C), Andrea Parmenter (District E), and Tamra Fenberg (District E) sparred over politics infiltrating classrooms. 

As Opilla put it, the Herald acts like “a mouthpiece” for the board and gives parents the “cold shoulder.” To be fair, the paper did print at least one letter to the editor in support of the reform candidates—so hey, credit where it’s due. 

But when it came to real investigative follow‑up on Stewart’s campaign fine or Smith’s 48-count indictment, they kept it surface-level. The headlines were there, but the hard questions weren’t.

This election is a parents’ revolt. Fenberg, Hall, and Stegner aren’t polished politicians—they’re parents who’ve had enough. They’re stepping up to refocus our schools on academics, safety, and plain old common sense.

From left: Pearl Stegner, Jody Trampp, and Tamra Fenberg are among the candidates challenging the current Durango School District 9-R board this fall. Photos courtesy of pearl4durangoschools.my.canva.site, Jody Trampp for School Board Facebook page, and Fenberg for School Board Facebook page.

Meanwhile, the current board keeps pushing flags, consultants, and chaos.

Voters have a real choice. Keep letting the bureaucrats turn our schools into ideological battlegrounds—or bring in leaders who’ll fight for our kids like they’re their own.

The Herald might still be clinging to the status quo, but parents aren’t falling for it. Not anymore. They’re paying attention. They’re talking to each other. And they’re done being ignored.

It’s time to clean house. Vote for sanity. Vote for our kids. 

Let’s take back our schools and rebuild the broken trust.

Heidi Ganahl is a conservative policy advocate and grassroots leader in Colorado. She serves on the board of the American Conservation Coalition, where she backs local, free-market ideas for protecting the environment. Ganahl is also the founder and president of Rocky Mountain Voice, a center-right media platform, and previously launched Camp Bow Wow—now North America’s leading pet-care franchise. A University of Colorado Regent from 2017 to 2023 and the 2022 Republican nominee for governor, she also founded SheFactor and the Fight Back Foundation, and hosts the Unleashed with Heidi podcast, where she promotes liberty, accountability and grassroots leadership.

Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in commentary pieces are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the management of the Rocky Mountain Voice, but even so we support the constitutional right of the author to express those opinions.