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Denver school board candidate Deborah Sims Fard is dropping out of the race due to an injury.
Sims Fard, a Denver Public Schools teacher, was running for an at-large seat representing the entire city. Two candidates remain in the race for that seat: DPS principal Alex Magaña and Amy Klein Molk, who previously worked as a paraprofessional in DPS.
Because Denver ballots have already been printed, Sims Fard’s name will still appear on the ballot, a spokesperson for the Denver Clerk and Recorder’s Office said. Votes for Sims Fard won’t be counted.
Ballots will be mailed to voters on Friday.
Sims Fard told Chalkbeat that she was campaigning at a block party in mid-September, playing with some children, when she fell and injured her sciatic nerve. The pain was so bad that she had trouble walking and wasn’t able to attend candidate forums or other campaign events, she said.
“I am on the mend, but I cannot do what is necessary to compete,” Sims Fard told Chalkbeat, “and so it just is not in my best interest if I have to choose between a school board election and my health.”
Four seats on the seven-member Denver school board are up for grabs Nov. 4. The election comes at a key time for DPS, which is facing declining enrollment, threats from the Trump administration, and pressure to raise student achievement.
Sims Fard said the decision to drop out of the race “was very hard because I believe in my heart that I was the only independent candidate.” Sims Fard was not endorsed by either of the two big players in Denver school board elections: the Denver Classroom Teachers Association or Denver Families Action, a deep-pocketed advocacy group.
Magaña was endorsed by Denver Families Action, while Klein Molk was endorsed by the teachers union.
“We need to look at how we can have advocacy, how we can have representation, in a different way that does not include special interest groups to the degree that it does,” Sims Fard said.
Sims Fard had not raised any money for her campaign, according to campaign finance reports filed with the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office. As of Sept. 29, Magaña had raised more than $45,000 and Klein Molk had raised more than $47,000.
An independent expenditure committee called Better Leaders, Stronger Schools that is largely funded by Denver Families Action had also spent $184,900 on television ads and $60,000 on digital ads in support of Magaña, according to campaign finance reports. Independent expenditure committees cannot coordinate with the candidates.
Melanie Asmar is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Colorado. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org.
