Vita Malama, a parent in Adams 12 from Thornton, addressed the board during public comment to raise concerns about the district’s handling of seventh-grade health instructional materials at STEM Lab School.

"My concern is not with the subject matter itself, but with how instructional materials are selected, communicated, and made accessible to families," Malama said, and she described a video shown in a healthy decision-making unit titled "Let's Talk About Drugs" that, she said, included graphic imagery — references in her remarks included portrayals of cocaine and heroin use, drug preparation and injection, overdose imagery and drug paraphernalia.

Malama said those materials were not disclosed to families in advance and that some lesson content originated from an eighth-grade band lesson but had been used with seventh graders without prior notice. She said publicly available materials did not match what was viewed in the school's instructional binder and that district staff cited copyright when she requested copies. "I submitted a formal instructional materials complaint and an official FERPA and CORA request," she said, and she said she was still waiting for complete responses.

In response, Superintendent Chris Godowsky thanked Malama for filing a written complaint and described her approach as "constructive and thoughtful," and he said Executive Director of Curriculum and Instruction Kim Brady and Deputy Superintendent Beau Forward had expressed interest in meeting with her to review the complaint and materials. "I just would love for you to have a personal contact that you leave here tonight with, so that we can be sure to be responsive to some of the issues that you've raised," Godowsky said.

Malama asked for restorative remedies including advance parent notification and access to materials, and for clear documentation showing alignment to Colorado academic standards. The transcript records her formal complaints and her FERPA/CORA request as pending at the time of the meeting; board members pledged staff follow-up but no formal board action was taken.

Authorities and access requests referenced during the exchange included FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act), CORA (Colorado Open Records Act), and the Colorado academic standards — all cited by the speaker in support of her request for materials and transparency.

Next steps recorded in the meeting: district staff indicated outreach to Malama to arrange follow-up meetings and to review the complaint; no additional public action or timeline for completion was recorded on the public record.