May 31, 2015 09:12 AM UTC

Huge Rally Protests Jeffco School Board Majority Friday

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• by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE: Courtesy the Jeffco PTA:

#standup4kids An estimated 2500 attended a rally on Friday to protest the actions of the Jeffco School Board… http://t.co/KVZiER2Kqv

— Jeffco Council PTA (@JeffcoPTA) May 31, 2015

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With the exception of the 9NEWS video clip you can watch above (no online story unfortunately), another very large turnout of Jefferson County residents, teachers, and students for a protest against the conservative school board majority appears to have slipped under the local media’s radar yet again. Here are some photos from Friday evening’s rally in Littleton’s Clement Park, featuring a big crowd undeterred by heavy rain and hail that fell during the event. All photos via Facebook:

We haven’t seen an official estimate of crowd size, but the event was by all accounts very large despite the weather, and caused traffic jams around the Southwest Plaza area as attendees crowded into Clement Park.

The escalating battle between the conservative Jefferson County school board majority and the district’s teachers, parents, and students has consistently been marked by enormous crowds turning out to protest against the board’s actions–a phenomenon we saw several times in 2014, culminating in the mass walkouts of thousands of students protesting the majority’s politically-stilted “review” of AP history curriculum. Other events like the “Boots on the Boulevard” protest along Wadsworth witnessed thousands of protesters lined up along Jefferson County’s busiest thoroughfare at rush hour: an event that no one who lives in suburban Jefferson County was able to ignore.

As for these renewed protests, which 9NEWS actually kind of disses in the process of being the only local news outlet to cover them? This is reportedly just the first, and they’ll be continuing all summer long.  Given the undeniably large turnout this one received even in terrible weather, we’d say ignore them at your peril.