My commendation and support goes to the unanimous decision of the Bayfield School Board to modify the curriculum concerning sex education. This decision took courage. What that school board basically said is: “Parents, you are the ones responsible for the moral and character development of your children. Our job as educators is to teach them the academics to prepare them to be contributing citizens.”

I was so lucky to have taught in the Durango school system years ago. The partnership between parents, our schools, the community and me as a teacher that was forged over my teaching career was pivotal. I could not have taught without parents. I could not have taught without the participation of many community leaders who came into our schools. It has been dismaying at best to see what the Comprehensive Human Sexuality Educational Act has done to erode that partnership.

It has been dismaying to see what phones have done to erode that partnership. It’s time to put them down, and start talking and listening.

It’s the hardest job to be a parent. It’s one of the hardest but most gratifying jobs to be a teacher. But all of us now need to have this conversation on the direction we all want our schools to go. Our kids need us all.

Jane Pearson

Durango