After months of polarizing school board forums and campaigning that far surpassed the usual dullness of past elections, Kelly Bates and Kristin Allan have won their respective elections for spots on the CCSD School Board. Both won more than 50% of the vote in each of their respective districts.

The district elections usually pass by uneventfully, but this year the strong opposing voices of the candidates have encouraged voters to head to the polls.

The topics of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and masking have been particularly dividing given their current political importance. There is a vast difference of opinion over these charged issues, both nationally and locally within the CCSD election.

In a previous interview with the USJ, Bates mentioned that there was a lot more to discuss this election than in ones prior.

“It feels a lot more high stakes, I was passionate before … but this year I feel like it’s something that we really have to put up,” Bates said. “It’s a lot more effort than we had to put in years past. It’s a lot more time consuming, there’s a lot more meetings. It’s a tough one this year.”

Though school board meetings full of difficult conversations are sure to continue, the board forums have come to a close and resulted in a presumptive victory for Allan and Bates.

“I have a great vision for Cherry Creek. I love the school district. I support our students 100 percent,” Allan said. “I think that we are doing great things and we are headed in the right direction … but I think we can just keep growing.”

Meet the 2021 CCSD School Board Candidates and Debates

The Divisions Between Us

(How) Should We Teach Race?