A virtual meeting between Colorado GOP leaders and their La Plata County colleagues became contentious last week as party officials debated next steps in a proposed legal battle with a Durango school district.
State Republican leadership, with the backing of known extremist group Moms for Liberty, targeted Durango School District 9-R after its board members proposed a resolution affirming staff’s right to display Progress Pride flags and Black Lives Matter as protected government speech.
At its Jan. 28 meeting, the School Board ultimately passed the resolution with an outpouring of support from students and families in Durango.
State GOP Vice Chair Hope Scheppelman, who lives in La Plata County, and Darcy Schoening, the party’s director of special initiatives and former chair of the El Paso County Moms for Liberty, hosted the meeting to share their plans with other local GOP officials. There were about nine people in attendance, aside from Scheppelman and Schoening.
Schoening began by saying they are looking at “potential lawsuits and legal remedies,” but also that they were trying to elevate their grievances to a national stage.
“We wanted to coordinate because we have reached out to our Congresspeople and the Trump administration, we know they have made this a priority,” Schoening told those in attendance.
Schoening said that they would reach out to the administration to “freeze the [9-R] school district’s funding.”
Like all Colorado school districts, Durango 9R receives federal funding to help its most vulnerable students: those from low-income families and those with special needs.
Scheppelman agreed, “This is unprecedented. Right now at the federal level, Trump is working egregiously to get rid of DEI and all things like this, not just in education, but in the military as well. If we can tailor it into these wider conversations, we can bring Durango to a national stage.”
Scheppelman added that considering the increased attention on Colorado with high-profile ICE raids in Denver and Aurora, they were confident they could elevate Colorado.
Some members expressed frustration that there weren’t more conservatives who turned out to the January School Board meeting to support their endeavor.
Despite Schoening and Scheppelman’s insistence, some in attendance, including the newly elected La Plata County GOP Chair Vanessa Ruggles, were concerned over whether a lawsuit would be effective and that the threat of legal action was hurting Republicans’ image in Durango.
Specifically, some members objected to comments Schoening previously made to the Durango Herald.
In December, Schoening was quoted by the Herald railing against “rainbow-haired kids” and claiming the school board members were acting like sex criminals.
“You have less than a month to continue your sordid pedophiliac deeds,” Schoening said. “We and the Trump administration will be dealing with you all, and your rainbow-haired kids who are being groomed whilst grooming others can find a new platform for their fetishes.”
Schoening continued, “I made firm promises to deliver justice – to professionally and personally bankrupt the district and any staff member for promoting more transgender and anti-woke violence.”
“We can’t make personal attacks against the school board,” said Ruggles. “We can’t make threats against board members, I would request we not do that again.”
Schoening became frustrated, “With all due respect, I am not going to entertain ‘leftist talking points’ right now on this call. Now is the time for bold action.” Schoening told Ruggles that she never made any physical threats against the board members.
Schoening did however threaten to “professionally and personally bankrupt” district board members and staff who disagreed with her perspective on transgender people in addition to equating the actions of the Board to pedophilia.
CTR has reached out to Ruggles to follow up on the meeting and if she feels the concerns she expressed were taken seriously. This article will be updated with any response received.
