November 08, 2023 10:53 AM UTC

There Will be No Coup Attempts on the Denver School Board

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• by: Colorado Pols

Nobody is a bigger fan of outgoing Denver School Board member Auon’tai Anderson — formerly known as “Tay” Anderson — than Auon’tai Anderson. If Anderson ended up with an official fan club, you can bet that he would throw his tiny hat into the ring for the position of club president.

The controversial, oft-censured, and often-ridiculous Anderson is concluding his tenure as a member of the Denver School Board and decided to use the opportunity of Tuesday’s election results to do what he does best: Talk about himself. Anderson issued a statement today that is easily one of the more absurd things we’ve seen in recent years:

Yesterday, the voters of Denver charted a new course for Denver Public Schools by electing John Youngquist, Kimberlee Sia, and Marlene De La Rosa. I extend my heartfelt congratulations on their decisive victories and am committed to facilitating a seamless transition onto the Denver School Board. I have invited Director-Elect Youngquist to join me at Denver Public Schools next week to commence a peaceful transition of power. [Pols emphasis]

There’s more about Anderson in the statement — because of course there is — but the real gem was in this first paragraph. There will be no hoarding of textbooks or lethal deployment of pencils as part of a desperate attempt by Anderson to retain an authoritarian grip on the great power that comes from being on the board of directors for Denver Public Schools (DPS).

Anderson is not resisting the “transition of power” in DPS because he is now focused on running for the state legislature in House District 8 for the right to succeed term-limited State Rep. Leslie Herod.

Anderson decided not to seek re-election to the Denver School Board in 2023 knowing that he would almost certainly be defeated, though he pretended otherwise in an announcement in June by saying, “This is not about walking away from not being able to win again.” If you feel like you have to say this, you’ve essentially acknowledged the concern.

Three other candidates are seeking the 2024 Democratic nomination in HD-8: Gun violence prevention activist Victor Bencomo; labor activist Sharron Pettiford; and public policy consultant Lindsay Gilchrist.