The Park County School District 1 Board of Trustees has begun an important process that will hopefully lead to more transparency. 

Following a contentious meeting where parents were denied the chance to speak up on an issue of an occasional substitute teacher who had made posts that concerned them, trustees met again last week and began a discussion on potential ways to allow for more public comment at board meetings. 

I urge all trustees to be open minded in these discussions as they continue and not revert to the “this is how it’s always been done” fallback. 

You’re never going to please everyone, but I firmly believe that many people, if they have more opportunity to share their concerns publicly at a board meeting, will feel more confident they have a board that truly represents them. 

What it comes down to is: Are people being listened to?

This board and school district have already shown themselves to be receptive to public outcry in the recent past. Less than a year ago, concerns regarding the school’s bathroom policies not protecting kids enough (and allegedly allowing transgender youths to go into a bathroom that did not match with their biological gender) resulted in the board and district spearheading the charge in getting a new law passed, through Powell Sen. Dan Laursen, to assist districts in setting up policies to ensure students either use a private restroom or one matching their biological gender. 

The board and district are listening, and should be thanked for once again responding to concerns by diving into the topic, in this case, increased transparency.