In the new at-large seat, former Adams 12 school board President Kathy Plomer, a Democrat, is running against Republican Dan Maloit, a veteran and St. Vrain Valley School District parent who became politically active arguing for schools to reopen.
Maloit said he wants to support teachers, get back to basics, and bring a parent perspective. A founder of the Colorado Alliance for In-Person Learning, Maloit said voters will — and should — remember decisions made in 2020 and 2021.
“We both said we wanted kids back in school,” Maloit said. “She was a school board president, and those kids stayed out of school pretty long. I said, ‘I want to get back in school,’ and I risked my family’s livelihood and personal reputation to put them back in there. I think that that’s going to matter.”
Plomer said she’s happy to have that debate. Board members made the best decisions they could with the information they had at the time, she said, while facing criticism from all sides.
But she prefers to talk about what kids and schools need now. She first got involved years ago as a parent volunteer when her oldest started kindergarten, and she served on the Colorado Association of School Boards’ executive committee, a position she says exposed her to issues facing districts around the state, including in far-flung rural districts.
“At this time, we need people who understand the system,” she said. “There are no soundbite answers to our questions. We need to have tough conversations.”
-Chalkbeat Colorado
Meet Kathy Plomer
Kathy Plomer
Plomer is the Democratic candidate running for the at-large seat on the Colorado Board of Education. Since 2011 she has worked in the Tri-County Health Department, most recently as a resource coordinator. She has had a career in public health for 30 that includes HIV/AIDS education, breast cancer detection and keeping tobacco out of schools, according to her campaign website. From 2013 to early 2022 she was on the Adams 14 Board of Education, where she also served as PTCO president and as a member of the District Accountability Committee. She has been endorsed by Gov. Jared Polis and Congressmen Jason Crow and Joe Neguse. Plomer has three children.
https://plomerforcolorado.com/
Kathy Plomer Q&A
Creek and Jefferson County continue to eat away at district funds, already
affected by dwindling school enrollment. Do more charter schools provide
needed services to parents, or do they now provide duplicated programs while
doing serious damage to critical public school districts?
It’s important that children are able to learn in the environment that’s best suited for
them to receive a high-quality education that sets them up for success in life. Charter
schools are part of a range of school choice options including neighborhood, magnet
and innovation schools. We know all kids do not learn the same so all of these options
are meant to provide different learning environments for kids. The local Board of
Education is in charge of reviewing and approving new charter schools. To the extent
that they are able to manage the types of charter schools that open, there should not be
duplication of programs. Our priority must be ensuring that schools are properly
resourced to serve our current needs.
Do you think the state should investigate whether local school districts teach
some form of critical race theory and report to the public?
Concerns about what is being taught in classrooms can and should be addressed by
local district leadership and school boards. That is where parents, students, schools and
communities can have meaningful conversations about what kids are taught in schools
that are working hard to serve their students every day. Critical Race Theory (CRT) is
not part of any curriculum taught in K-12 schools. Education is guided by the Colorado
Academic Standards. The term CRT has been re-defined by organized groups to
encompass wide ranging matters like diversity, equity, race, racism, and even social
and emotional learning. Manufactured fears about CRT are limiting discussions about
history and politicizing our classrooms. We have a complex history in our country. To
advance as a nation and have equal opportunity for all Americans requires honest study
of the past and understanding its context. I am against the censoring of U.S. history and
believe students in Colorado deserve to learn an accurate, honest and inclusive history
and to have the chance to think for themselves. This is how they become leaders for
tomorrow and create a future that works for everyone.
Should the state review school library materials for LGBTQ and gender materials,
creating some sort of ratings system, similar to how movies are rated for sexual
and violent content?
I do not believe that the government should be in the business of rating books; that
practice would immediately be at risk of politicization and ideological censorship.
Furthermore, books, in general, do not have a rating system like the movies and there is
no reason to single out LGBTQ and gender materials for a rating system as opposed to
other types of materials. Students and parents have a variety of ways they can learn
about books through online descriptions, and book reviews, and I am a proponent for
teaching our children to think for themselves. We live in an age where just about
anything is available online and through social media. Parents and students make
choices every day about what to read and view and can use similar decision-making
strategies to make sure the books they choose to read are in alignment with what they
feel is appropriate.
In regards to policy, school libraries consider age, social and emotional development,
intellectual level, interest level, and reading level when determining what books are
placed on shelves. Additionally, there are no standards upon which to base any kind of
rating of LGBTQ or gender materials. There is no funding to develop ratings or a system
to complete the time-consuming work of reviewing vast numbers of books. Who would
be selected to determine a rating system and then rate books is problematic and could
lead to censorship.
How can the state education department help to narrow and ultimately close the
so-called minority gap in standardized test scores?
Data has shown that students of color and low-income communities have access to
schools and services that are often underfunded and understaffed. We need to make
sure that every Colorado student, no matter their background or their parent’s tax
bracket, has access to a world-class education. The State has a number of tools at its
disposal to correct this problem. They can study and prioritize resources to schools and
districts who are showing a gap in scores. The state Department of Education can
support and encourage districts and schools to offer extra support to students of color
by providing more one-on-one or small group tutoring, more time in class, and more
personalized attention. Meeting students where they are at academically and finding out
if there are other barriers or challenges to learning is also important. Ultimately the state
can help to figure out the root causes for gaps so they can be addressed in a
comprehensive way.
What should statewide public schools do to address the lag in student
performance created chiefly by the effects of the pandemic?
We should do everything we can to address any potential loss of learning as a result of
the pandemic. Colorado is a local-control state so schools and districts are
implementing plans that address their local challenges and needs around achievement
gaps and students needing to catch up. Schools and districts have received millions of
dollars of extra temporary COVID relief dollars and have added extra tutoring, credit
recovery options, after school programs, support staff and funded other changes that
the state should keep supporting after Federal COVID funds are no longer available.
Do you believe the 2020 Presidential Election was absent of widespread fraud and
fairly won by Joe Biden?
Yes
Do you trust the election process in Colorado? And will you accept the outcome
of this election as announced?
Yes, I trust the election process in Colorado. Yes, I will accept the outcome of the
election as announced.
Get to know Kathy Plomer
What is the last concert you attended?- Mumford and Sons
What restaurant do you frequent most?- I-Pie (Pizza place in Broomfield)
If you had a superpower, what would it be? Teleportation. I love to travel and also
hate traffic
What was the last book you read? High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped and How We
Get Out by Amanda Ripley.
What is your least favorite household chore?- Mopping floors
If you had to pick one television show to watch forever, what would it be?- Late Show
with Stephen Colbert
Did you have any New Years resolutions? What were they? No New Year’s
resolutions because I don’t keep them
What were you most excited to do after pandemic restrictions eased? Travel to see
Family
What fun fact about you would most surprise people who know you? I love stand-up
comedy
Meet Dan Maloit
Dan Maloit
Dan Maloit is the Republican candidate running for the at-large seat on the Colorado Board of Education. A veteran, Maloit served in the military for nine years, including deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, and has a degree from the University of Colorado Boulder. He currently works as a sales manager at a Denver-based medical equipment company, according to LinkedIn. Maloit is a parent of three children in the St. Vrain Valley School District, and became politically active during the pandemic as an advocate for schools to re-open for in-person learning. He is the founder of Colorado’s Moms and Dads for Rising Action, which advocates for in-person learning and nonpartisan education.
https://www.danmaloitforcolorado.com/