Woodland Park District RE-2 is set to update its social studies curriculum with one aligned with state standards.

During the district board of education’s May 13 meeting, its director of academics, Karen Hamlow, presented numerous changes for next year, including removing the American Birthright social studies standard.

The standard, which was approved by the board in 2023, was developed by Civics Alliance, a coalition formed by the education reform nonprofit National Association of Scholars, to “teach American students their birthright of liberty.”

Per the alliance’s website, the standards teach students to identify the ideals and various examples of “human liberty, individualism, religious freedom, and republican self-government,” assess the extent civilizations have fulfilled these ideals and describe how their evolution has contributed to forming American ideals.

American Birthright’s adoption by the district has been met with opposition from local teachers, parents and students who believed that the decision was made hastily with little to no public input and that the standard leaned towards American exceptionalism over other perspectives.

In October 2022, the Colorado Board of Education rejected the standards to align with the state’s civic standards, with one board member calling them “too extreme for the state of Colorado,” Chalkbeat Colorado reported.

Hamlow told the board that their social studies standards are currently the only ones not aligned with the state’s and that students aren’t fully prepared for assessments like the Colorado Measures of Academic Success test for fourth- and seventh-graders.

She added that American Birthright doesn’t encourage the same depth of knowledge or order of analytical skills as state standards, lacks a global perspective and doesn’t cultivate critical thinkers like the district’s mission statement describes.

“The American Birthright standards don’t allow for deep, critical thinking,” Hamlow said. “There’s a lot of material that’s memorizing facts. It’s ’You memorize facts and you move on.’ It’s not (in) depth.”

Hamlow cited the district’s policy IJ, which states that its board delegates the selection of instructional and library materials to the superintendent and that any changes don’t require a board vote, and said her presentation was purely informational.

While board members agreed with aligning its standards with the state, they also acknowledged that some community members liked aspects of American Birthright and believed they were important to continue teaching.

“I think it’s important that we identify that we are pro-America, we want American values, we want to present that to our students,” said board director Robb Davidson.

“We want them to be critical thinkers about our history, not just memorizing dates and facts. They need to know the good, the bad, the ugly, the whole picture, so you learn from the past.”

Hamlow would go on to present a new secondary social studies curriculum for approval. Since American Birthright is only a standard rather than a district curriculum, she said that this led to social studies teachers lacking resources and seeking out their own to use in classrooms.

Hamlow also presented the board with considerations to update the district’s curriculum for 7-12 grade English, K-6 writing, preschool creative education and new curriculum for preschool literacy. An overview was given for the district’s Air Force Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps curriculum, which was recently approved and will be offered next school year.

Other board business

Earlier in the meeting, Hamlow presented the board with updated student fees for the next year. In a draft proposal presented to the board, total district fees were projected to increase to about $5,250.

She said this would cover rising expenses that were previously covered by COVID-era relief funds and a local sales tax that ended in 2025.

“And now that that’s gone, that is all on us and our families,” Hamlow said.

Hamlow noted that, in the area, only Colorado Springs District 11 and Salida District R-32 covered more student expenses than their district.

The draft proposal detailed increases ranging from $5 to $60 for existing programs. The largest increase was $75 for a junior high marine lab trip for a total of $1,950.

Also mentioned was the likelihood of other cost-friendly actions the district might take, including reducing coaching stipends and staff, expanding sponsorships and community fundraisers and implementing leaner operational practices across all programs.

The board would approve the first part of their new strategic plan, which will focus on the district’s mission, vision, values, pillars and goals, and new financial literacy coursework requirements for high school graduation. This new standard became required by state law in 2025 for all public school districts to adopt.