Dear fellow citizens,
It is with deep sadness after living here and being involved with the 9-R school district and their outreach to diverse and divergent populations that the 9-R administration has come to the point to ban the display of all human experiences.
In the early 2000s, I was on the board of the first charter school in the 9-R District, Community of Learners. Thrilled students had educational choices based on their uniqueness. Also, I was a member of the Citizens Committee for revisioning future paths for our diverse high school students who might want to go to college or the military or choose a vocational direction. There was an acceptance and declaration of individual needs, noticed and publicized as aspirational values.
What is happening to the DEI initiatives that citizens, teachers and the administration have worked so hard to implement?
As a nonprofit director, I worked with diverse people from four counties to build supportive assets to reduce smoking and prevent drug use among teens and young adults. A club for LGBTQ+ youths was sponsored. Civil discussion led to agreed upon direction, empowerment and success.
If we are to be the fully functional, generous society that I know we can be in my experience of 25 years, no bans of civil diverse expression should be tolerated. What comes next if we allow these type of bans? Refusing to recognize Indigenous Day? Back to Columbus Day? Blocking symbols of Hispanic heritage?
Stop bans. Nurture dialogue.
Pat Senecal
Durango
