By Jen Schumann | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice
In January 2025, House Bill 24-1039 will take affect across Colorado, requiring public schools to honor students’ chosen names and pronouns.
Schools are engaged in discussions as they form policies that adhere to the law. The community outcry in Delta County, a rural community in Western Colorado, reflects the challenges many school districts face.
Delta residents have a history of taking a stand for local control and community values in the face of what they see as state overreach and an inappropriate pro-LGBTQ+ agenda in schools.
Last year, the Delta County School Board passed Resolution 2023-29 to ensure that any social studies curriculum addressing LGBTQ cultures would be age-appropriate and focused on achievements rather than personal identities.
“Our public education system needs to focus on academics and the accomplishments of people,” explained Beth Suppes, a board member. “It didn’t matter what sexual orientation or gender identity anyone had — we wanted the focus to remain on achievements.”
Suppes advocated for specific language in the resolution to prevent undue focus on these topics. “When we were writing that resolution, I wanted to put that line in there specifically so that this would not happen,” she said.
Recently, Suppes discovered an issue highlighting the resolution’s importance. While reviewing middle school social studies textbooks, she found a paragraph discussing Gov. Jared Polis [as a gay man and what that meant] in a fourth-grade textbook.
“I questioned [the curriculum director] about it,” Suppes said. “I asked her, first of all, what grade level is this in? And she told me it was in fourth grade, which blew my mind because I hadn’t even asked to see the fourth-grade textbooks.”
Although the paragraph had been in circulation since 2020, Suppes learned it had not been taught. “Teachers didn’t even know that was in there,” she shared. “The kids are not being taught that lesson in our schools.” However, she expressed concern that the material remained. “Well, is it still there?” she asked. “It’s still there.”
Suppes also raised concerns about parental awareness.
“Parents believe that they deserve to know that the possibility is there for this fourth-grade student to find that in a school textbook and read it,” she said.
When parents found out about this, they started showing up at board meetings calling on board members to adhere to the resolution.
Jason Neeley, a father and local resident, acknowledged the challenge of addressing the existing textbooks.
“The books are already purchased. I’m not advocating for book burning. This was an innocent mistake that got past all of us,” he said. However, Neeley proposed a solution: “I am asking for a redaction of sorts. Some may use the word censorship, but we conservatives have been censored for the last 20 years and we’ve survived.”
He added, “Pastor Shane and I offer our services and volunteers to go through every textbook and redact sentences or place-approved stickers over the content.”
Shane Kier, another resident and father, expressed similar concerns about the content. “This information puts homosexuality on a pedestal. It is not age-appropriate for the fourth grade,” he said.
Kier offered to lead efforts to address the issue, explaining, “I am volunteering to put a group of people together to accomplish [redacting the textbooks].” He also praised the school board for its prior actions, stating, “You as a school board did an outstanding job with Resolution 2023-29. What I’m asking is that you carry through with what has been set up.”
Public commentary at school board meetings has also highlighted a range of perspectives on HB24-1039.
Heather Berquist expressed concerns about how the law could impact teachers.
“The legislation sets a terrifying precedent of compelling speech in the classroom and warning that teachers should not be forced into a position where their personal beliefs are at odds with what they must say to students,” she said. “This legislation opens the door to creating an environment where teachers feel threatened and unsupported.”
Leslie Parker emphasized the importance of ensuring fairness for all students: “To ignore a huge portion of Delta County who are Christian is to overlook the community the district serves.”
Educators have also voiced their views, reflecting the diverse challenges of implementing the law.
A Delta High teacher, who identified as lesbian, emphasized the importance of inclusivity and factual teaching.
“My agenda? I coach educators on how to successfully work with challenging students so they have the tools to be able to do their jobs more efficiently. My agenda is and always has been to love unconditionally, teach facts with empathy and tolerance, and support educators and students to create an inclusive culture and safe campus environment,” she said.
Megan Randall focused on the role of facts in education: “This generation has the Internet and already has access to the fact that the governor is gay.”
Focusing on balancing the requirements of HB24-1039 with the values of local control and parental rights, the Delta County School Board has been working to finalize policies addressing how students’ name and pronoun changes are managed.
First, the board has prioritized parental involvement. “Parents will have to come in and sign the paperwork at the school, so the school has open communication with that parent,” Suppes said. “That makes me feel so much better knowing that the parents are going to be completely involved with this process and it will not be hidden at all from them.”
Second, the policy includes a limit on the frequency of name changes. “The number of times a student can change their name will be just once a year,” Suppes stated. “Honest mistakes can happen, and with this now being a civil rights issue, we just don’t want to ever put our staff in a place where they are not comfortable.”
Finally, the board has incorporated Title VII accommodations to protect teachers who may struggle with implementing the policy. Suppes credited the district’s attorney for this addition.
“Our school district attorney brought the Title VII accommodations to light. It’s offered even without being written into this policy, but I’m very glad the committee allowed this to be included so teachers are aware they can ask for an accommodation,” Suppes said.
Suppes acknowledged the challenges of navigating such a complex issue: “I’m very thankful that our community got involved,” she said. “Just them being in the room and holding that committee accountable for our community needs has been the only saving grace to getting this policy where it is now.”
School Board Member Jennifer McGavin shared the following, “This issue has been worked through on the policy level and so far I’m pleased with the work product. I would appreciate it if reporters would look at the positive in the school district and not always interpret vigorous discussions as controversies.”
The Delta County School Board plans to finalize its policies by the end of February.
Suppes advises other districts to not give up and to make sure that everyone’s perspectives are considered in the policymaking process.
Delta County’s efforts to implement HB24-1039 underscore the challenges of balancing state requirements — viewed by many as overreach promoting a pro-LGBTQ+ agenda — with the preservation of local control and community values.