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Tag: District 49

Six online schools, a $15 million balance, one district: What D49 took on when it dissolved ERBOCES
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Six online schools, a $15 million balance, one district: What D49 took on when it dissolved ERBOCES

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Five days before the School District 49 board voted to dissolve Education ReEnvisioned BOCES (Boards of Cooperative Educational Services), the withdrawal that had pushed the co-op to the brink was deferred. Pikes Peak State College had signaled it would leave the co-op effective Aug. 15, a move that would have dropped ERBOCES to a single member and made it ineligible to operate. Then ERBOCES produced a 2013 memorandum of understanding requiring a year's notice, and on Aug. 12 the college indicated it would stay through summer 2027 to honor that notice. D49 dissolved the co-op anyway, on Aug. 17.  The reversal settled little, because the state had already raised a deeper question about the MOU. The same agreemen...
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Federal Judge Dismisses Lawsuit as Colorado School Districts Lack Standing in Transgender Sports Case
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Greeley Tribune, Approved, State

Federal Judge Dismisses Lawsuit as Colorado School Districts Lack Standing in Transgender Sports Case

By Ann Schimke | Greeley Tribune Federal judge rules districts don’t have standing to sue the state, in part because they aren’t facing clear harm. A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by several Colorado school districts and charter schools over policies related to transgender student athletes. Senior U.S. District Court Judge John Kane ruled Wednesday that the districts and schools don’t have standing to sue the state, in part because they aren’t facing clear harm. The ruling is a win for the state and a loss for the conservative-leaning districts and schools that had challenged the state’s non-discrimination law, specifically its gender identity protections. Kane’s decision affirmed a January recommendation by a magistrate judge, a type...
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“This is too important to improvise”: D49 superintendent says sports lawsuit seeks clarity
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Local, Top Stories

“This is too important to improvise”: D49 superintendent says sports lawsuit seeks clarity

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Superintendent Peter Hilts says protecting girls' athletic opportunity—and preventing boys from lifelong regret—is only part of the story. It's also about fixing incoherent policies and standing in the gap as adults. Colorado Springs’ School District 49 made headlines in May when it filed a federal lawsuit challenging the state’s anti-discrimination law and CHSAA’s transgender athlete policy. “We wanted to get in front of the coming legal conflict,” he explained in an interview with RMV. “We think this is too important to improvise.” The district’s enacted policy separates sports, locker rooms and team travel by biological sex—a direct clash with the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA) and Colorado High School Activities Association (C...
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District 49 Staff Disciplined Over Alleged Approval of Charlie Kirk Assassination
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The Gazette, Approved, Local

District 49 Staff Disciplined Over Alleged Approval of Charlie Kirk Assassination

By Ashleigh Quintana, KOAA | The Gazette Two staff members at School District 49 are on administrative leave following reports that they approved of the Charlie Kirk assassination. Kirk, a conservative activist, was shot and killed Wednesday during a speaking event at Utah Valley University in Orem. The suspect, identified as Tyler Robinson, 22, was taken into custody on Thursday night, about 33 hours after the shooting, FBI Director Kash Patel told reporters. The agency had received more than 11,000 tips as of Friday morning, the most since the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, he said. According to Gazette new partner KOAA, D-49 said on Friday that the following statement was released to families at The Campus, which includes the Springs Studio for Academic Excellence and the Pik...
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Colorado Springs District 49 Advances Facility Policy Focused on Biological Sex
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The Gazette, Approved, Local

Colorado Springs District 49 Advances Facility Policy Focused on Biological Sex

By Eric Young | The Gazette School District 49’s board of education discussed a new district policy that would maintain segregation of district facilities based on biological sex during their regular meeting Thursday night. The proposed policy JBAA would establish clear guidelines to separate toilet, locker room and shower facilities between students of opposite sexes, regardless of gender identity. All previous policies or guidance allowing access based on gender identity would be rescinded. Its language goes on to state that it would prevent “a hostile environment by avoiding disproportionate burdens on students of one sex and complies with judicial precedents upholding biological-sex-based separation.” Single-use facilities would also be available at each school bu...
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First in the state: District 49 bans boys from girls’ sports, sues state over anti-discrimination laws
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Approved, completecolorado.com, Local

First in the state: District 49 bans boys from girls’ sports, sues state over anti-discrimination laws

By Sherrie Peif | Complete Colorado COLORADO SPRINGS — Colorado’s 18th largest school district, located about 15 miles northeast of Colorado Springs in El Paso County, appears to be the first to unilaterally develop transgender athlete regulations in adherence to recent presidential executive orders. Saying that “there are inherent differences between boys and girls, meaning biological males and biological females” the Falcon 49 school board last week enacted a new policy specifying in part that “classification of sports team participation by biological sex is therefore necessary to preserve and promote equal opportunity for District 49’s female athletes.” The policy, titled Preserving Fairness and Safety in Sports, goes on to state:  “Allowing boys to compete in girls’ ...
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