Three civil rights complaints have been filed against Durango School District by a conservative-leaning nonprofit law firm relating to the district’s equity and inclusion efforts.
William Trachman, attorney for Mountain States Legal Foundation, said he filed the complaints with the Department of Education Office of Civil Rights.
The first complaint is related to the school district’s Native American programming and resources, which Trachman said is biased against anyone in the district who is not Native American.
The second complaint concerns the school district’s flags and symbols policy, which Trachman said discriminates against paraphernalia or flags related to white individuals or groups.
The third complaint accuses the school district of using race as a factor in hiring and appointment to the district’s Racial Equity Committee. Trachman referenced a superintendent performance review that he says is indicative of the district using race as a basis for hiring.
Karla Sluis, spokeswoman for Durango School District, said all hiring practices at the district are in line with state and federal regulations, and are based on candidate qualifications. She said Thursday that the district had not received any official notice of the complaints or been notified of any impending lawsuits.
Trachman said Durango School District has used loopholes in its written guidelines to intentionally avoid following the letter of the law as it relates to federal policies around diversity, equity and inclusion. In doing so, the district is effectively discriminating against white students, he said.
The complaint relating to Native American programming references specific programs and events Durango School District offers to only those identifying as Native American, such as the Native American Parent Advisory Committee, the Native American College Readiness Program and a Native American graduation ceremony. Trachman said doing so is a “straight up discrimination issue” toward white individuals and groups, and that the programs are in violation of Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Sluis defended the programs as being legal.
“We provide educational programming, such as Native American education, in alignment with state requirements and the needs of our students, including many from the Ute Mountain Ute and Southern Ute Tribes,” she said in an email to The Durango Herald. “These efforts serve all students by fostering understanding and respect across cultures.”
Last school year, Durango School District spent months examining its policies around displaying flags and symbols in classrooms and on campus. The district initially required teachers to remove pride flags and Black Lives Matter flags from their classrooms, largely in response to a parental complaint. After backlash from students and parents, the district’s board of directors determined the flags are consistent with district policies because they conform with inclusion efforts and a previously approved DEI resolution.
Trachman said the wording in the district’s January 2025 Board Resolution 25-002 document suggests that flags or paraphernalia relating to “white identities” – such as an All Lives Matter flag or a flag in support of white South African individuals – are not allowed in classrooms.
The specific sentence Trachman references says: “The Board of Education supports the rights of District employees to post in their classrooms, offices, or anywhere in our schools all Black Lives Matter and Brown Lives Matter flags, signs, or other symbols of support for Black, Brown, and other non-white racial and ethnic identities, because these are symbols consistent with the Board’s DEI Resolution, ongoing inclusivity efforts, and Results Policies, including inclusive curriculum.”
Sluis said the “non-white” wording in the resolution does not exclude flags and paraphernalia representing other ethnicities.
“We can clarify that our district does not discriminate against any race, ethnicity or identity, and that we do not ban materials based on ‘white ethnicity’ or any other racial category,” Sluis said.
“The language in the Resolution in Support of Indigenous, Black, and People of Color Students, Staff, Families, and Community Members was created to affirm support for historically marginalized groups, (and) does not prohibit displays or materials based on a person’s race or ethnicity,” she added. “All displays in classrooms must align with our district’s instructional mission, be age-appropriate and follow existing board policy.”
Trachman also accuses the district of setting out to hire employees based on race. He cited a performance review in which Superintendent Karen Cheser was lauded for recruiting “an increasingly diverse candidate pool resulting in a more ethnically and racially diverse workforce.”
The review reads:
“When we look at staff newly hired in the 2023-2024 school year as compared to the new hire staff data from the 2022 EEOC reporting cycle we show the following increases:
- Hispanic or Latino new hires increased 243%
- American Indian or Alaska Native new hires increased 50%
- Two or More Races increased from 0 new hires in 2002 (sic) to 6 new hires in 2023-2024.
- Black or African American increased from 0 new hires in 2002 (sic) to 4 new hires in 2023-2024”
Trachman said the district wants its staff to more closely reflect the racial makeup of its student body. As proof, he included an email from the director of human capital to Cheser that sounds out the legal challenges in increasing staff diversity and specific wording that would keep the district on solid legal footing in achieving its goal to “more closely reflect the diversity of the student population.”
“The idea that you may want diversity (in school employee pools) could be a valuable goal, but you can’t treat people who are inherently individuals as merely members of their race, and then use that membership status to try to get a proxy,” Trachman told The Durango Herald. “The fact that you might not have that many African American role models in your school district is not a reason why you can start using race as a factor in your employment decisions. It just doesn’t translate that that person would then automatically become a role model for African American students – that connection doesn’t exist.”
Sluis said the district’s hiring practices are in alignment with state and federal laws, and that the policies work to increase inclusion in schools, rather than decrease it.
“DSD follows a rigorous, lawful hiring process that is based on qualifications, experience, and alignment with district needs,” she said in an email to the Herald. “Our thorough hiring process includes Colorado Bureau of Investigation and Federal Bureau of Investigation screenings and fingerprinting.”
She added: “We are committed to creating a safe, inclusive, and respectful learning environment for every student. Our policies and programs are designed to follow all state and federal laws, including civil rights protections, while also upholding our values of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.”
Trachman said court rulings have made it clear that public bodies are not to consider race in admissions and hiring practices.
“The idea that representation matters and that there are inherent values to diversity is definitely a theory, but it’s one that courts have rejected as recently as the 2023 Harvard decision,” he said, referencing the 2023 Supreme Court ruling against affirmative action in college admissions, where it was decided by the court that race could not be used as a determining factor in college admissions.
Trachman said “early mediation” was offered to Durango School District in relation to the complaints, but Sluis and the school board said no attempts were made by Trachman or his firm to reach out to the school district, and no notice of any legal action had been extended to Durango School District as of Thursday.
“The Trump administration (has) already opened multiple investigations in Colorado, one into Jefferson County and one into Denver Public Schools,” Trachman said. “If DSD wants to avoid a federal investigation and the loss of its federal funds, it should think seriously about coming into compliance with civil rights laws.”
Trachman was referring to investigations launched into a female restroom in a Denver high school being converted to an all-gender restroom, and policies in Jefferson County schools relating to sleeping arrangements for transgender students on school trips aligning with the student’s described gender identity.
The Jefferson County lawsuit was dismissed by a federal judge in early August.
The Department of Education Office of Civil Rights did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday, including to confirm whether the complaints were indeed filed with the office, and, if so, next steps relating to the complaints.
Durango School District policies
Additional details about Durango School District’s policies on inclusion can be found here:
2023 Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Policy: bit.ly/3HyykBh
Board resolutions supporting LGBTQIA2S+ and IBPOC students: bit.ly/3UFcr68
Board Equity Resolution: bit.ly/3HJ6wKq
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