By Lori Gimelshteyn | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice
On April 25th, the Colorado Parent Advocacy Network (CPAN) filed a formal civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), urging an investigation into Pueblo County School District 70 (D70) and its use of the “Transforming Research into Action to Improve the Lives of Students Social Emotional Learning” (TRAILS) program.
Our complaint is a direct response to the district’s reckless decision to embed this program into classrooms without parental consent, without transparency, and in direct violation of federal law.
TRAILS, which was deceptively marketed as a “gift” to the district, is directly connected to the Tides Foundation, a radical political nonprofit. Under TRAILS, students are subjected to mental health screenings, data collection on their emotions and coping skills, and exposure to controversial content, including advertisements promoting organizations like Trans Lifeline.
While marketed as a crisis support resource, Trans Lifeline promotes a radical belief system that seeks to dismantle established systems like law enforcement and opposes what it describes as “white supremacy” and “colonization.”
But it doesn’t stop there. Trans Lifeline also offers financial assistance for individuals seeking legal name and gender marker changes, which are decisions with lifelong consequences.
What is deceptively presented as “support” can instead become a pipeline for vulnerable children to receive life-altering advice and encouragement to make irreversible decisions while bypassing the guidance and protection of their parents.
This is not social emotional learning or crisis support; it is ideological grooming disguised as compassion.
And when schools funnel children toward this content without parental knowledge, they are violating the sacred trust between parents and educators, putting children at risk of irreversible harm.
That is why CPAN filed a federal civil rights complaint. Our complaint asserts that D70 has violated federal laws protecting parental rights and student privacy, including:
- The Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA): D70 exposed students to mental health programming without obtaining parental consent, infringing on parents’ fundamental rights.
- The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA): The program’s data collection practices may breach federal privacy laws by collecting sensitive student information without proper disclosure or parental approval.
- First and Fourteenth Amendment Rights: By requiring student participation in an ideologically driven program without parental involvement, D70 violated parents’ constitutional right to direct the upbringing and education of their children.
But this isn’t just about D70; it’s about protecting children across Colorado.
Rural districts with limited funding are especially vulnerable to so-called “free” programs that arrive with hidden costs including ideological agendas, data mining, and psychological manipulation masquerading as social emotional learning.
We are calling on the federal government to take action.
The Department of Education must investigate D70’s use of TRAILS, ensure compliance with federal laws, and set a precedent that no district can disregard the rights of parents.
Parents have the right to know what their children are being taught. They have the sacred authority to guide their children’s mental and emotional development.
But that authority is meaningless if it can be bypassed by ideologically driven programs under the guise of social emotional learning.
We must unite as parents, educators, and citizens to demand transparency, accountability, and genuine education free from ideological influence. Please visit CPAN’s website at www.ColoradoParents.org to learn more, stay informed, and join our fight to protect children and the future of our country.
Lori Gimelshteyn, M.S., CCC-SLP, is the Executive Director and co-founder of the Colorado Parent Advocacy Network (CPAN), one of the state’s leading grassroots organizations defending the fundamental right of parents to direct the care, education, and upbringing of their children. With two decades of experience as a speech-language pathologist, she brings clinical insight and constitutional conviction to her advocacy. Under her leadership, CPAN has become a statewide force for educational freedom, academic excellence, and institutional accountability. Her work has been featured in national outlets including Fox News, The Federalist, The Daily Wire and The Denver Gazette. Lori’s vision is bold and unwavering: a future where truth, accountability, and parental authority shape every system that touches a child’s life. She continues to lead with clarity, courage, and conviction to make that vision a reality for the next generation. Lori can be reached at [email protected] or by text/call at 970-886-0888.
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.