Shame on the slate of school board candidates marketing themselves as Building Durango’s Future.

They are trying to con you into voting for them by falsely claiming that Durango’s schools have failed students for the past decade. DHS placed in the top 20% of all 1,783 Colorado schools the last time CMAS tests were administered in 2018-19. Reading proficiency was in the top 10%. The percentage of students achieving proficiency in reading/language arts was 72% (much higher than the Colorado average of 47%).

In tests this spring after missing last year because of COVID-19, Durango schools outperformed the state average and were well above scores in neighboring Bayfield, Ignacio, Cortez and Dolores.

Niche.com ranks DHS No. 68 out of 445 public high schools in Colorado and No. 58 out of 349 best college prep high schools in the state. Greatschools.org ranks DHS above the state average in key measures of college and career readiness with a four-year graduation rate of 92% compared with the statewide average of 81%. Sixty-eight percent of DHS graduates will pursue a college education compared with 41% statewide.

The BDF candidates have posted on their Facebook page an article making false claims about the performance of Durango schools by Renee Parsons, a woman who claims to have been abducted by aliens. The photograph of a disheveled classroom used in that article is from Chernobyl! Don’t be fooled by these candidates. Vote for Erika Brown, Rick Petersen and Andrea Parmenter.

Carol Cure

Durango