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Jeffco Schools Chief Counsel to Retire During High-Stakes Title IX Fight With Feds
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Jeffco Schools Chief Counsel to Retire During High-Stakes Title IX Fight With Feds

By Matt Kyle | The Denver Gazette As Jeffco Public Schools continues to fight a legal battle with the federal government, it will soon be without its top attorney. Julie Tolleson, chief legal counsel for the district, will retire at the end of the current school year, according to a letter sent to district staff Tuesday by interim Superintendent Rob Stein. Tolleson has been known among Jeffco staff as a “common sense” attorney who used her legal expertise to uphold student rights, Stein wrote in the letter. He also praised Tolleson for avoiding “unnecessary controversy” during her tenure. “Julie’s legal acumen will be hard to replace,” Stein wrote. “Her wisdom and perspective will be missed.” Tolleson has been with Jeffco since 2022. Her tenure ha...
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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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School Board Pays $95K After Censoring Student Tribute to Charlie Kirk
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The Christian Post, Approved, National

School Board Pays $95K After Censoring Student Tribute to Charlie Kirk

By Michael Gryboski | The Christian Post Officials violated student's First, Fourth and 14th Amendment rights. A North Carolina school district has agreed to pay $95,000 in attorneys' fees and damages after censoring an on-campus student tribute to conservative Christian activist Charlie Kirk. Last year, a high school student and her parents sued the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education over a painted tribute to Kirk that was removed shortly after it was completed.   The nonprofit legal organization Alliance Defending Freedom, which represented the student, announced Monday that it had reached a settlement with school district officials over the lawsuit. Per the settlement, the board of education agreed to pay $95,000 in assorted fees...
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Denver Schools Approve Full-Day Cell Phone Ban Beginning Next Year
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DENVER7, Approved, Local

Denver Schools Approve Full-Day Cell Phone Ban Beginning Next Year

By: Maggie Bryan | Denver7 Denver Public Schools adopted a new policy banning student use of cell phones and other personal communication devices during school hours. DENVER — Denver Public Schools will ban student cell phones and other communication devices for the entire school day starting next school year, after the DPS Board of Education voted unanimously to adopt the new policy Monday night. The ban covers the use of cell phones, smart or electronic watches, wireless earbuds, personal tablets, laptops, and any other personally owned portable electronic communication devices. The policy was drafted in response to a state law requiring school districts to implement a policy by July 1 concerning student device use during the school day. A DPS survey sent to...
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Federal Officials Give Jeffco School District 10 Days To Address Girls Sports Findings
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Fox News, Approved, Local

Federal Officials Give Jeffco School District 10 Days To Address Girls Sports Findings

By: Jackson Thompson | Fox News ED says the district also allowed males to access female-only facilities and overnight accommodations. FIRST ON FOX: The U.S. Department of Education (ED) sent a warning letter to the Jefferson County Public Schools in Colorado on Wednesday, after the department determined in March that the school district may have allegedly put up to 61 male students on girls' sports teams, Fox News Digital previously reported.  Wednesday's letter warns the district that it has 10 days to come to a resolution with ED, or it will receive a follow-up letter of impending enforcement action, and risks termination of the district's federal education funding. "Not only did the District trample on females’ sex-based protections by ...
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The parent-child bond is not the government’s to break
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

The parent-child bond is not the government’s to break

By Colleen Enos | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Each morning you kiss your 12-year-old daughter goodbye while sending her off to school. You trust that her teachers care about her and are nurturing her mind, not hiding things from you. Weeks later, you discover your once-bright child is now anxious, isolated, and medically altered, because her trusted teachers have secretly counselled her to take life-altering hormones while keeping you in the dark—the mother who loved her, sacrificed for her and would lay down your life to protect her.  This scenario isn’t rare; it’s unfolding in schools nationwide. When the state severs the sacred parent-child bond, it doesn’t just break families; it assaults the natural rights that shield every American’s liberty and the rule of ...
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“Stay on our necks”: DPS board adopts immigration policy proposed by activist coalition
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Local, Top Stories

“Stay on our necks”: DPS board adopts immigration policy proposed by activist coalition

By Kelly Notarfrancesco | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice With her clenched fist raised high in the air and a call of, “Si se puede,” Denver Public School Board of Education President Xóchitl Gaytán smiled as she requested the DPS board’s vote to adopt a policy amendment to limit the district’s interaction with federal immigration agencies. Screenshot of Denver Public Schools Board of Education President Xóchitl Gaytán during April 23 board meeting. The policy change came at the request of a nationwide coalition of over 40 nonprofit activist organizations, many of which are connected with anti-Israel protests, Colorado’s anti-ICE protests, and the broader Marxist-Leninist global communist movement. Coalition members are financed byOpen Society Foundation,...
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Colorado Student Granted Religious Exemption From School’s Digital Monitoring System
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Westword, Approved, Local

Colorado Student Granted Religious Exemption From School’s Digital Monitoring System

By Hannah Metzger | Westword "The district is deeply committed to honoring parental rights." Hail Satan? A young member of the Satanic Temple was granted a religious accommodation from the Elizabeth School District, arguing that the district’s digital hall pass system conflicts with her beliefs. The parents of the Elizabeth High School student had requested that she be exempted from the system, but their request was initially denied, according to TST. That’s when the Temple’s lawyers stepped in. “This was a cut-and-dry case of a TST member’s bodily autonomy being violated by invasive digital controls,” says Eliphaz Costus, campaign director of the Temple’s Protect Children Project. Using the digital hall pass system to monitor and restric...
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Greeley-Evans School District Nurse Reprimanded Over ICE Protest Email
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Complete Colorado, Approved, Local

Greeley-Evans School District Nurse Reprimanded Over ICE Protest Email

By: Sherrie Peif | Complete Colorado GREELEY – While businesses closed, teachers called in sick and students walked out of class across Colorado as a sign of solidarity with two recent shootings by Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in Minnesota, one Greeley-Evans School District 6 staffer decided to push her political opinions onto colleagues via the district email system, earning her a sit down with human resources about the appropriate use of school resources. The recent killing of protesters Renee Good and Alex Pretti by ICE officials in Minneapolis, who were attempting to take into custody suspected criminal aliens in the country illegally, has sparked protests across the country, including in Colorado. Although District 6 has had classes as usual, and...
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With Phones Put Away Students Rediscover Friendship, Games, and School Spirit
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Intelligencer, Approved, National

With Phones Put Away Students Rediscover Friendship, Games, and School Spirit

By Anya Kamenetz | Intelligencer When New York State banned phones in public schools from bell to bell this past September, the goal — according to the ban’s champion, Governor Hochul — was undistracted learning. But within weeks of the Great Phone Lockup, teachers began to notice an incidental (and arguably even more compelling) benefit: The teens were talking to one another as if they were in a Brat Pack movie. Sure, there’s been grumbling and some burner phones and scrolling in the bathroom. At one high school, an entrepreneurial senior even bought a pouch-unlocking magnet on Amazon and tried to charge classmates a dollar per jailbreak. But generally, with phones off-limits, the atmosphere feels different. There’s a pleasant buzz in the lunchroom, chatter in the hallways, and an ...
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