March 16 Special Executive Session: the School Director search is over.
Reminder: Independent parent group — not affiliated with or endorsed by FASD.
TL;DR
On March 16, 2026, the FASD Board of Directors voted unanimously to designate Kathy Durán as the sole finalist for the permanent School Director position. A mandatory 14-day public notice period begins today. The board could vote to hire her as early as March 30.
Parent Recap (What Happened)
The meeting. The FASD Board convened a special meeting on Monday, March 16 at 2:45 PM via Zoom. The posted agenda stated the purpose of the meeting was to enter executive session to interview candidates for the School Director position, receive input from the hiring committee, and deliberate. The board entered executive session shortly after the meeting began. Four members of the hiring committee joined the board as guests for that portion of the discussion. The executive session lasted from approximately 2:50 PM to 5:28 PM.
The vote. When the board returned to open session at 5:28 PM, the chair of the executive search committee made a motion to designate Kathy Durán as the sole finalist for the School Director position and to begin the required public notice period. The motion was seconded and approved unanimously. All six board members present voted in favor. No one voted no or abstained.
The legal process from here. Colorado's Open Meetings Law (C.R.S. § 24-6-402(3.5)) requires that the finalist list for a public executive hire be made public at least 14 days before a final appointment is made. The board confirmed the notice period begins March 16, with posting to fasdenver.org and ClassDojo expected later this evening (it looks like Dojo has posted). The board cannot vote to hire before March 30 at the earliest. No final appointment was made at this meeting.
I was the only member of the public present for this meeting, which was posted to ClassDojo the day prior and scheduled for 2:45 PM on a Monday afternoon.
The “Since You’re Here…” Section
Unofficial reflections — offered in good faith (and with a grain of salt)
I want to be explicit: the section above is my attempt to keep things factual and balanced. This section is my personal perspective.
First, it's important to say clearly: the board followed the legal process correctly tonight. The executive session was properly noticed. The statutory citation was read into the record. The discussion occurred in executive session, and the vote occurred in open session. From a procedural standpoint, the board handled the mechanics of the decision appropriately.
My concern isn't about the legality of the vote. It's about how the process leading up to it unfolded.
1. Parents had little visibility into the search process.
Best-practice guidance for charter school leadership searches — including guidance published by the Colorado League of Charter Schools — typically includes some form of community interaction with finalists, such as a presentation or town hall. That step did not occur in this case.
That doesn't mean the board made the wrong choice. But it does mean the community had very little opportunity to understand the candidate pool, the priorities guiding the search, or the criteria used to evaluate candidates. For a school community that cares deeply about leadership and direction, that lack of visibility is understandably frustrating.
2. A single finalist raises legitimate questions.
The board announced a single finalist, rather than a slate. That is allowed under Colorado law — a board may name one or more finalists as long as the name is publicly posted for 14 days before a hire. It's also possible that the search process narrowed the field legitimately. By some accounts, the school received roughly 50 applications, many of which did not meet minimum qualifications.
Still, leadership searches — especially following a period of transition — benefit from a high level of transparency about how the decision was reached. Questions about evaluation criteria, interview structure, and how finalists were selected are normal in these situations. The board did not publicly discuss the candidate pool, interview rubric, or search timeline during the open session. Providing clarity on those points would help build confidence in the outcome.
3. The next 14 days matter.
The public notice period is not a formality. It exists precisely for this moment — to give the community time to weigh in before a decision becomes final. Parents who have thoughts about the direction of the school, the leadership transition, or the hiring process should share them with the board during this window. That feedback can be supportive, critical, or simply curious — but the time to provide it is now.
The FASD Board can be reached at Board@fasdenver.org
4. Whoever leads the school, the board must now govern.
If this hire moves forward, the board's job is not done — it is just beginning. The interim school director has not been shy about implementing changes that have been unpopular with significant portions of this community. Some of those changes appear misaligned with our strategic plan — a plan that, notably, expired in 2025 with no public replacement in sight.
The board's responsibility is to set strategy, hold leadership accountable, and represent the community — not to ratify whatever the school director proposes. A permanent hire does not resolve that governance gap. It makes closing it more urgent.
~ Greg
