A closer look at what Susan Payne and the D20 board majority are really bragging about.
Sometimes the language people use gives them away. In a September 5th email to volunteers for the Advocates for D20 Kids/Moms for Liberty/Church for All Nations slate, organizer Kris Garafalo praised the “courageous decisions” made by District 20’s board majority. She named Amy Shandy, Derrick Wilburn, and Susan Payne as the leaders of this effort.
It sounds impressive at first glance. But when you stop to look at what she’s actually calling courageous, it starts to sound like something else entirely.
Graduation as a Political Stand
Garafalo points to the board’s decision to hold ceremonies at Clune Arena as a mark of bravery. Honestly, that’s huge stretch. The location of graduation is a scheduling issue, not a battle for the soul of education. Families want their kids to walk across the stage in a setting that feels special and manageable. Turning that into an act of courage says more about political spin than about student needs.
And really? Out of all the pressing issues facing schools – teacher shortages, building repairs, per-pupil funding – this is what gets held up as a signature accomplishment? A venue choice? That tells you almost everything you need to know about priorities here.
Let’s also be honest about who gets left behind in the name of “tradition.” Clune Arena may have served as a longstanding graduation venue, but today’s security environment at the Air Force Academy is dramatically different. With increased restrictions, families face major barriers to attending, especially those with immigration hurdles, prior legal history, or loved ones traveling internationally. If we say graduation is about celebrating every student, then we need to mean every student. Traditions are only worth preserving when they still serve the people they’re meant to honor.
What’s more, the D20 high school principals, the very people who know their student populations best, were united in favor of relocating graduation to a more accessible site. How is it brave for Susan Payne and the rest of the board to ignore the recommendations of the leaders most closely supporting our students and families? Calling it courage to reject that input isn’t just hollow, it’s performative. And our students deserve better than that.
Policies Written for Hypotheticals
Another item on the list is the “Safety and Fairness in Sports” policy. This is the rule that blocks transgender girls from joining girls’ teams.
Here’s the context: according to the district’s own athletic director, only two students asked to play on a team that fit their gender identity during his tenure. Two. And yet the board built a policy designed to address an imagined wave of athletes who don’t exist.
Was that really about fairness in sports? Or was it about scoring culture-war points? When Susan Payne and her colleagues approved it, they weren’t solving a problem. They were writing discrimination into the rulebook.
Turning Down National Geographic
The board also voted to deny students, specifically ESL students, access to curriculum from National Geographic. That’s a resource known worldwide for clear, visual, fact-based content. For kids trying to master English while keeping up with science and history, it’s the kind of material that helps them succeed.
Blocking it doesn’t protect parental rights. It narrows opportunities. And calling that courage feels almost ironic.
A Blank Check for a Lawsuit
Then there’s the lawsuit against CHSAA, the state’s athletics association.
Here’s what’s unusual: the litigators from First & Fourteenth admitted they didn’t know what the final bill would be. Yet the board voted to spend taxpayer dollars on a case orchestrated by a political lawyer, handed to a political law firm, with no clear idea of the total costs. That’s not courage. That’s a gamble with other people’s money. And Susan Payne voted for it.
Inflated Urgency, Deflated Facts
Garafalo also claimed school board races draw only a 20 percent ballot return. That number isn’t true. Recent cycles show closer to 40 percent.
Turnout in off-year school board elections is low, and opens the door for extremists, but why cut the number in half? It’s a motivational tactic. If you convince volunteers that turnout is tiny, you make them believe a few doors knocked will tip the whole race. The figure works as a pep talk, not a reliable statistic.
What the Email Reveals
The real heart of the email comes in one line:
“We absolutely need to fill these 3 seats with conservatives.”
Colorado law sets school board seats as nonpartisan. But here the mask slips. The board majority and their allies see D20 as a partisan prize, not a shared trust. Susan Payne, appointed rather than elected, has tied herself firmly to that project.
What Courage Could Look Like Instead
Courage is not chasing after imagined threats. It is not cutting students off from resources that help them learn. It is not spending public money on lawsuits with no clear price tag.
Courage, in a school district, looks like something quieter. It’s funding teachers so they stay in the classroom. It’s fixing the long list of buildings that need repair. It’s making sure every student, whether an English learner, an athlete, or a kid struggling with mental health, has the support to thrive.
That’s the kind of leadership families, teachers, and students deserve. And it’s the kind worth asking for when we fill out ballots this November.