CORTEZ–The Montezuma-Cortez School District Board of Education recently voted to scale back the district’s non-discrimination policy by eliminating references to sexual orientation and gender identity, as well as barring use of race-based preferences for both students and staff.
The school district sits in the Four Corners area of Colorado, encompassing the town of Cortez, the farm and ranch communities of Lewis, Arriola and Pleasant View, as well as the Ute Mountain Ute tribal reservation. The district website reports serving over 2,550 students.
Ten of the previous 13 protected characteristics remain in the district’s non-discrimination policy after members voted unanimously to remove “sexual orientation,” “gender identity,” and “gender expression” during their board meeting last Tuesday.
The new policy now reads “Harassment based on a person’s disability, race, creed, color, sex, marital status, national origin, religion, ancestry, or need for special education services shall not be tolerated.”
While the policy has received push back from some claiming the school is removing protections for gay and transgender students, board member Mike Lynch disagrees.
“Contrary to claims by some that the edits are an attack on the protected classes that were removed from the policy language, I see it differently,” Lynch told Complete Colorado, “Personally, I feel that the board is showing their support for parental rights as well as the safety of female students. In my opinion these two things are improved going forward in our district.”
In addition to removing the sex and gender references, the board also slashed sections pertaining to racial preferences, barring the use of race in decisions concerning admissions, hiring, compensation, promotion, scholarships, and discipline, to name a few.
The amended policy reads “M-CSD may neither separate or segregate students based on race, nor distribute benefits or burdens based on race.”
According to Lynch, the edits were made to eliminate language that potentially threatened federal funding, as well as to align themselves with both the U.S. and Colorado Constitution, among other reasons.
As previously reported by Complete Colorado, the Montezuma-Cortez board in June passed a policy recognizing inherent differences between males and females, requiring students to participate on sports teams that match their biological gender.
Tuesday’s meeting saw a similar policy introduced that could become a more permanent replacement to the one passed in June.
The board also unanimously voted to join an ongoing lawsuit challenging the state’s Anti-Discrimination Act as well as the Colorado High School Activities Association’s (CHSAA) bylaws allowing boys to participate in girls’ sports.
