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Poudre School District board approves resolution supporting Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Summary
At its Jan. 14 meeting the Poudre School District R-1 Board of Education unanimously approved a resolution supporting Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Jan. 20, 2025, and heard a student speaker urge the district to integrate King’s lessons year-round in curriculum.
The Poudre School District R-1 Board of Education voted unanimously Jan. 14 to approve a resolution in support of Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Jan. 20, 2025.
The resolution passed 7-0 after the board heard remarks from Delia Mahaney, the district’s diversity, equity and inclusion coordinator, and a student speaker from Rocky Mountain High School who urged the board to expand classroom coverage of King and other Black Americans beyond a single annual lesson.
The resolution, formally offered during the board’s business agenda, was moved and seconded on the floor and then approved by roll call. The board’s vote was recorded as: Jim Brokesh, Kristen Draper, Connor Duffy, Kevin Havelda, Carolyn Reed, Scott Schoenbauer and Jessica Zamora — all voting in favor.
Juliette Matin, a senior at Rocky Mountain High School and president of that school’s student body, told the board that learning about King once a year left her wanting more. “This year’s theme is ‘justice everywhere, mission possible,’” Matin said. “Growing up as a Black woman in a predominantly white community, I often felt like an outsider in many spaces, especially the classroom... My education could have done more. It could have given me a deeper connection to Dr. King’s message of love, justice, and equality.”
Delia Mahaney described events planned in the community for Jan. 20, including a student-created traveling mural and other activities beginning at 1 p.m. in Washington Park; she also referenced a quote on the event shirt: “Education must enable one to sift and weigh evidence to discern the true from the false, the real from the unreal and the facts from the fiction.”
Board members responded to the student’s remarks during discussion before the vote. Superintendent Kingsley praised the student’s testimony and said it should prompt the district to deepen how it teaches civil-rights history. Director Kevin Havelda said Matin’s address gave him “chills” and urged the board to “seek justice everywhere” in classroom practice and curriculum choices.
The board took no additional binding curricular action during the meeting; the resolution is an expression of support and public recognition of Martin Luther King Jr. Day activities and the district’s planned events on Jan. 20, 2025.
The board adjourned the public portion of the meeting after other agenda items and then convened an executive session later in the evening.
