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From ACIP to AAP: CDPHE proposes school vaccine rule shift amid 95% MMR goal
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, State, Top Stories

From ACIP to AAP: CDPHE proposes school vaccine rule shift amid 95% MMR goal

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado is proposing a new playbook for school vaccines. The Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) plans to drop reliance on the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) — a CDC panel — and instead follow the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), which has rolled out its own schedule and supports only medical exemptions. The shift coincides with CDPHE’s campaign to lift MMR rates from 88 to 95 percent, the herd immunity target, amid national upheaval and rising parental concern. Colorado’s health department is pushing new changes to school vaccine rules, and parents have less than two weeks to weigh in. CDPHE will appear before the State Board of Health on Oct. 15 to request a rulemaking hearing. Public comments...
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Douglas County sheriff defies Freedom From Religion Foundation after it targeted Grandparents4Kids story hour
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, Local, Top Stories

Douglas County sheriff defies Freedom From Religion Foundation after it targeted Grandparents4Kids story hour

By Steve McKenna, Grandparents4Kids Board Member | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice A funny thing happened on my way to my 60s. Concepts of tolerance my parents, teachers, and others taught me as a child evolved. In the 1960s, tolerance meant accepting others, not persecuting them because they were different from you or your friends. Now, in my 60s, it seems more about persecuting those who fail to tolerate to the satisfaction of a bullying minority of ideologues. Case in point. To celebrate “See You at the Library” on July 16, Grandparents4Kids, a nonpolitical group I am fortunate to be a part of, planned to have Douglas County Deputy Sheriff read Kevin Sorbo’s book “The Test of Lionhood” at a story hour presented at, but not sponsored by, the Highlands Ranch library. The book...
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Are you racist? The Durango School Board thinks so.
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, Local, Top Stories

Are you racist? The Durango School Board thinks so.

By Protect La Plata Kids | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Durango School District 9-R has spent heavily on a quiet plan to bring diversity, equity and inclusion policies into local classrooms. Attached to this commentary are invoices obtained through CORA requests to the district. They show the board paid Make It Plain Consulting more than $209,000 between 2021 and 2025. A combined file of the invoices can be viewed here. What the community didn’t realize is that the board’s long-term goal was to introduce Critical Race Theory under the banner of DEI. School board directors Kristen Smith, Erika Brown and Andrea Parmenter started by pushing a new resolution for the Durango 9-R Board of Education. As of July 2025, three Federal Civil Rights Complaints were filed against D...
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Grieving Texas father: My daughter died at Camp Mystic because I taught her to obey authority
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Houston Chronicle, Approved, Commentary, National

Grieving Texas father: My daughter died at Camp Mystic because I taught her to obey authority

By Matthew Childress | Commentary, Houston Chronicle On July 4, 2025, my 18-year-old daughter Chloe Madeline Childress was killed. Not in a car or hunting accident, but because she listened to me as her father. I taught her respect for others. I taught her right from wrong. I taught her to obey orders and to listen to those in authority. My daughter was one of two counselors that needlessly passed away at Camp Mystic during the early morning hours of July 4, along with 25 young campers. She died because she followed directions. The instruction from camp leadership was to “stay in your cabin.” She did what I taught her to do, obey orders, while the camp managed to evacuate others all around Bubble Inn. The largest mass casualty in summer camp history did not happen by chance. It wa...
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Trust broken: How COVID-era lies are fueling a collapse in childhood vaccination
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American Thinker, Approved, Commentary, National

Trust broken: How COVID-era lies are fueling a collapse in childhood vaccination

By Dr. Brian C. Joondeph | Commentary, American Thinker Recent data reveal a startling decline in childhood vaccination rates, with kindergarten coverage now dropping to about 92 %, far below the 95 % threshold needed for herd immunity.  Exemptions have increased to 3.6% nationwide, and more than half the states experienced declines in coverage for MMR, DTaP, polio, and varicella for the 2024-25 school year. Meanwhile, measles cases have reached a 33-year high, along with a disturbing rise in whooping cough cases, more than doubling in 2025 compared to the previous year. Why are parents becoming more skeptical of routine childhood vaccinations? The core reason is trust, with trust eroding so deeply that it may become permanent.  Image create...
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Why educational choice matters more than ever in Colorado
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Why educational choice matters more than ever in Colorado

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Educational Choice Makes Education Better I saw the op ed below in Complete recently and wanted to share. It details a movement in education that I was not aware of: microschools.A couple of non-contiguous quotes help explain."Microschools are small learning communities typically serving less than 50 students, but which may have as many as 150. These schools are usually privately funded and launched by parents or educators to offer unique programs that address a specific need or demand in their communities. Low student-to-teacher ratios prioritize giving individual attention to each student."and "Driven by a desire for change, most microschools do not adhere to the standard educational model. It is most common for mi...
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Despite Executive Order Schools Still Advancing Gender Ideology
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National, Approved, Daily Wire

Despite Executive Order Schools Still Advancing Gender Ideology

By Mairead Elordi | The Daily Wire Parents, your child’s school might be gearing up to push transgender ideology this fall. As the first day of school approaches, the pressing cultural issue that continues to rile parents and helped catapult Trump to the White House in November remains alive and well in hundreds of school districts across the country despite the president’s efforts to stamp it out. During his first weeks in office, Trump signed a pair of executive orders threatening public schools with existential federal funding cuts if they refuse to root out “gender ideology,” including erasing it from the curriculum, banning males from girls’ sports teams and locker rooms, and no longer encouraging children’s “social transitions,” which can include using new pronouns, allowing...
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Four candidates launch common-sense campaign for Douglas County school board
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Local, Top Stories

Four candidates launch common-sense campaign for Douglas County school board

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Platform centers on academic excellence, parental rights, teacher support and protections for female athletes In Douglas County, a new slate calling itself Common Sense DCSD is stepping into the school board race. The group — Matt Smith, Keaton Gambill, Dede Kramer and Steve Vail — says the district’s future depends on keeping academics and safety at the forefront. They argue that balanced leadership has helped produce high test scores, a strong graduation rate and standout career training programs, and they want to carry that momentum forward. Smith, a former sheriff’s deputy, military veteran, global IT leader and father of a Douglas County student, said his goal is to keep the district centered on students.  “I’m running for school...
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OBBB Act empowers parents to shape their children’s future
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Washington Examiner, Approved, National

OBBB Act empowers parents to shape their children’s future

By Bethany Mandel | Washington Examiner Hardly anyone is talking about it, but Congress has just passed one of the most consequential education reforms in history. Tucked into the One Big Beautiful Bill Act is a provision that could transform how families access education, reshape the politics of schooling, and finally give parents the power to direct their children’s learning. The legislation establishes a first-of-its-kind federal tax credit scholarship program, open to all types of educational settings. Beginning in 2027, people will be able to claim a dollar-for-dollar federal tax credit, up to $1,700 annually, for donations to educational nonprofit groups that fund K–12 scholarships for low- and middle-income students. The scholarships are designed ...
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Colorado parents shaken as former school counselor faces assault charges
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Fox31, Approved, Local

Colorado parents shaken as former school counselor faces assault charges

By Parker Gordon | Fox31 DENVER (KDVR) — A former Poudre School District counselor has been arrested after allegedly having an “inappropriate relationship with a student for several years”, said the city of Fort Collins. On Tuesday, the city of Fort Collins said in a press release that Cassandra Poncelow, 40, has been arrested on multiple charges, including sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust, following an investigation into Poncelow’s employment at the school district. The city of Fort Collins said that a report was made to Fort Collins Police Services in July that a former counselor at the school district had an inappropriate relationship with a student while employed. Detectives, following the report, initiated an investigation into Poncelo...
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