PURR-LEASE

School Officials to GOP Candidate: Stop Spreading Bogus Claim Students ‘Identify as Cats’

Colorado’s gubernatorial race has strayed into wild territory in recent days.

School districts in Colorado have clapped back at bizarre claims from a Republican gubernatorial candidate that students across the state are identifying as cats. Heidi Ganahl has repeatedly made the assertion during her campaign to unseat incumbent Gov. Jared Polis next month, saying in one radio interview last week that “schools are tolerating” pupils “identifying as cats.” She later told Fox31 she’d been sent over 100 messages from concerned parents “across Colorado” about how the issue was affecting their school. But after checking with large school districts and two statewide organizations representing teachers and administrators, the Denver Post only found officials contradicting Ganahl’s claim. Randy Barber, the spokesman for Boulder Valley School District—which Ganahl’s campaign included on a list of districts where students dress like animals—said he’d never heard of the issue. “The concerns being generated by the Republican gubernatorial candidate are baseless,” he added.