By Kelly Notarfrancesco | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice
Slides from Roaring Fork School District’s “Understanding Our Bodies” 3Rs lessons, including the “Making Sense of Puberty” 4th/5th grade deck and its “A Note on Language” slide on gender identity and anatomy.
(Roaring Fork Schools)
Kindergarten lessons including explicit discussion of genitalia and instructing children to learn that there are “some body parts that mostly just girls have and some body parts that mostly just boys have.”
Second grade lessons including graphic anatomical images of nude children and training to recognize people based on their identities.
Sixth grade lessons directing kids to visit non-academic websites that invite them to take advocacy action on LGBTQ+ issues.
These and other lessons from Roaring Fork School District’s Comprehensive Human Sexuality K-12 curriculum have drawn persistent opposition from district parents and were the focus of an August 11, 2026, letter to RFSD from Alliance Defending Freedom’s Center for Parental Rights.
ADF claims RFSD violates parents’ constitutional rights
ADF, a nonprofit that litigates and advocates in U.S. courts to protect parental rights and religious liberty, submitted the letter to the RFSD Board of Education and superintendent, arguing that the district’s Advocates for Youth 3Rs sexuality curriculum and related implementation violates fundamental parental constitutional rights.
According to the letter, RFSD’s 3Rs contains graphic images and lessons of reproduction, puberty, sexual orientation, and promotes a non-binary construct of gender.
ADF also expressed concern that the district’s parental notification and opt-out processes are constitutionally inadequate, contending that the district’s practices violate parents’ fundamental right to direct their children’s upbringing under cases such as Mahmoud v. Taylor (2025), and Mirabelli v. Bonta (2026).
“Issues of sex and gender and identity go to the very core of issues that parents want to be engaged in,” said ADF Center for Parental Rights Director Kate Anderson in an interview with RMV. “…Having them (kids) take part in activities on these topics without parents knowing what’s going on—that’s a significant problem and the Supreme Court has said they just can’t do that.”
ADF’s demand: Drop the curriculum or shift to opt-in
ADF has urged the district to drop the 3Rs curriculum entirely or, at minimum, switch to an opt-in process.
The district has also been called upon to issue clear advance notice labeling the curricular material as sexual education and providing all slides and activities well in advance for parental review, and strictly honor parental opt-out choices.
ADF warned that continued failure of the district to honor constitutionally protected parental rights could result in legal action.
From Alliance Defending Freedom’s Aug. 11, 2026 letter to Roaring Fork School District.
Parents: Curriculum is not age-appropriate
District parents and community members have expressed concerns about 3Rs throughout the curriculum adoption process. The RFSD Board approved 3Rs in the spring of 2023 by a unanimous vote, according to the Sopris Sun. Parents reported receiving late, insufficient, or no notice of the lessons, and having opt-out requests ignored or delayed so children still sat through lessons.
Tanner Gianinetti is a district parent who has been pushing the district to change its curriculum and improve its related practices to support parental rights.
Gianinetti first became concerned about 3Rs after reviewing the curriculum for his then-Kindergarten son. Alarmed by the lesson contents, Gianinetti started talking with other concerned parents and raising questions about the curriculum to district leadership.
“I…was really advocating that this was not an age-appropriate curriculum. This is not evidence-based, and it’s got strong political bias…,” shared Gianinetti in an interview with RMV. “And the parents were unaware of it. You can’t just stick it in the homework folder…and expect that people are going to see it. And, as the policy reads, you automatically opt-in unless you say no.”
The district’s case, and where the state guide falls short
RFSD maintains that its 3Rs curriculum is aligned with state and national health standards and argues the curriculum keeps students safe.
RFSD Public Information Officer Kelsy Been told RMV that Superintendent Anna Cole addressed parents’ questions and concerns during her Comprehensive Human Sexuality Education implementation update at the district’s May 13, 2026 Board of Education meeting.
During that meeting, Cole provided the district’s rationale behind the 3Rs implementation. “We see comprehensive sexual health education as a primary prevention strategy to keep our students safe,” Cole explained. “It prevents sexual abuse…promotes inclusion and safety, creating positive school culture.” Cole then explained that the 3Rs curriculum was chosen based on its inclusion in the 2026 Colorado Office of School Safety Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Guide. “The board and community will note that in that document…it highlights the 3Rs curriculum as both evidence-based and effective.”
RMV reviewed the guide and found the 3Rs listing tagged “Effective” per the federal Office of Adolescent Health, but with no link to the underlying evaluation. The term “evidence-based” appears nowhere in the entry, and unlike programs in the guide’s separate “Evidence-Based Programs” section, the 3Rs listing carries no independent clearinghouse ratings.
The OSS 3Rs information did include a 3Rs/Advocates for Youth reference link to the Action Network — a nonprofit digital-organizing toolset used by organizations such as Black Lives Matter, National Education Association, Democratic Socialists of America, and Communist Party USA, according to Influence Watch.
Rights, Respect, Responsibility (3Rs) listing as a recommended resource in the 2026 Colorado Office of School Safety Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Guide, page 67.
In response to parents such as Gianinetti who requested the district move from an opt-out system to an opt-in process, Cole told the board, “Our goal here is to maximize student access to curriculum that we believe is essential to creating safe schools. Opting in undermines the validity of that effort, really framing it as something that’s taboo rather than something that we believe is beneficial to all students…”
District said it prioritized ‘young people’ and LGBTQIA+ input
Public records obtained by RMV reveal RFSD anticipated opposition to the curriculum, yet prioritized the opinions of “young people” and LGBTQIA+ community members over concerned parents.
The district’s response in its Comprehensive Human Sexuality Education Program Bi-Annual Report to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment stated, “Despite hearing some stakeholders opposed to the inclusive 3Rs curriculum we recommended, we remained solid in our recommendations to adopt this inclusive curriculum based on the information we heard from young people and community members who have historically been left out of instruction, especially members of the LGBTQIA+ community.”
An excerpt from RFSD’s Comprehensive Human Sexuality Education Program bi-annual report to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, in which the district said it “remained solid” in recommending the 3Rs curriculum despite opposition. Obtained by RMV through public records.
District sought friendly coverage to counter the ADF letter, records show
As of Friday, September 11, ADF told RMV that the organization had not received a response from the district. Public records obtained by RMV show the district’s initial response to the ADF letter was to express a desire to quell community attention.
Within 24 hours of the letter’s submission, district leaders including Cole and Been were in contact with Post Independent reporter Jaymin Kanzer. In an Aug. 12 email to Cole and Kanzer, Been wrote, “we wish this national group wasn’t successful in getting more media and thus community attention,” and asked whether the paper would set up an interview with RFSD on back-to-school news “so this isn’t the only news for RFSD right now.”
An Aug. 12, 2026 email from RFSD Public Information Officer Kelsy Been to Superintendent Anna Cole and a Post Independent reporter, describing ADF as a “national right-wing conservative outlet” and proposing an interview. Obtained by RMV through public records.
The next day, in an internal email to another district official with Cole copied, Been sought staffing data for what she called “a positive story…that could potentially replace the 3Rs article” as the next day’s front-page story.
An Aug. 13, 2026 email from Been seeking staffing data for “a positive story…that could potentially replace the 3Rs article” as the next day’s front-page story. Obtained by RMV through public records.
In a text message to the superintendent and the board president, obtained by RMV, RFSD Board Director Lindsay DeFrates described the Post Independent reporter as a media contact and friend.
A group text obtained by RMV, including Superintendent Cole, RFSD Board Director Lindsay DeFrates, and Board President Jonathan Delk, in which DeFrates refers to the Post Independent reporter as a “media contact friend of mine.”
Consistent with the internal district conversations, the Post Independent reporter published a story highlighting the district’s staff retention several days later.
RFSD prepares for potential lawsuit
Additionally, RFSD appears to have immediately begun preparing for a potential ADF lawsuit.
Within hours of receiving ADF’s letter, Ben Bohmfalk, RFSD’s Chief Operating Officer who is also the mayor of the Town of Carbondale, inquired about insurance coverage related to crisis management and public relations expenses at the direction of Superintendent Cole.
An Aug. 11, 2026 email from RFSD Chief Operating Officer Ben Bohmfalk inquiring about insurance coverage for crisis management and public relations expenses “at the direction of Superintendent Cole,” hours after the district received ADF’s letter. Non-district email addresses redacted by RMV. Obtained through public records.
Pressure continues
Despite the district’s apparent wishes, the controversy and focus on the district’s 3Rs curriculum persists through actions from both ADF legal experts and local concerned parents.
“You have created a mess that will only get messier if the curriculum is not pulled from CRES (Crystal River Elementary School) and the rest of the district,” said RFSD father Parker Nieslanik at the February 11, 2026 RFSD Board meeting. “These are our children, not yours. You will not decide what is age-appropriate for my five- and seven-year-olds. This is an at home lesson, not a public-school lesson.”
Information about RFSD’s 3Rs curriculum including the curriculum adoption process, and the opt-out process can be found on RFSD’s website.