GOLDEN — Hundreds packed the Jefferson County Board of Education headquarters building and the grounds around it Thursday night to decry a controversial proposed curriculum review committee that has been at the center of nearly two weeks of student protests.

By the end of the evening and after a bitter debate over the timing of the vote, the board approved by a 3-2 margin a compromise measure that would reorganize existing curriculum review groups in the district to involve more student, teacher and community voices.

The decision effectively scuttled a plan introduced late last month by board member Julie Williams to create a curriculum review committee that would have relied on teaching materials that promote patriotism and “positive aspects” of U.S. history and avoid encouragement of “civil disorder, social strife or disregard of the law.”

The meeting — the first since the curriculum controversy that has attracted national attention burst onto the scene — began with more than two hours of public comment.

The board room was packed, with camera crews from media outlets from around the country lining one side of the room and reporters on laptops in front of the dais.

Outside, a long line of sign-waving people marched down Denver West Parkway denouncing Williams’ proposal.

Williams, who was part of a conservative majority elected to the school board in November, began the evening by defending her plan as an attempt to increase transparency and accountability in the district’s classrooms and not as a move toward censorship.

“Our community is saying no to censorship, and I agree with that,” she said.

While the controversial section about patriotism and civil disorder had been stripped out of the proposal that went before the board Thursday, it didn’t stop dozens of people from blasting the board for the idea.

Students were first to take to the microphone. Many decried board president Ken Witt’s characterization of the students as “pawns” of teachers and their union after thousands walked out of class over the last couple of weeks to protest the proposed committee.

“We find it insulting that you say that we are pawns of anyone else,” said Chatfield High senior Ashlyn Maher.

Two students from Standley Lake High presented the board with boxes filled with 40,000 signatures gathered online from people opposed to the curriculum committee concept.

While heavily outnumbered, supporters of the idea did come out Thursday to back the board’s majority. They lauded the board for attempting to strengthen charter schools and instill fiscal discipline in the district.

Ed Sutton, who spoke on behalf of several board supporters, said the proposed committee would help bring “absolute local control” to Jefferson County schools by including community members in the curriculum review process.

“I believe it’s appropriate that this committee receive consideration from the board,” he said.

About 300 people gathered outside to watch the meeting projected on a makeshift screen. Many stood, still holding their signs from an earlier protest, while others came prepared with picnics, including one teacher who graded homework.

Tensions have been running high in the state’s second-largest school district since Williams, Witt and John Newkirk were elected to the board as a conservative slate less than a year ago.

In the latest unrest, two county high schools closed Monday after an overwhelming number of teachers called in sick or used personal days. Two other high schools were closed under similar circumstances Sept. 19.

The past few months have seen disputes over the departure of one superintendent and the hiring of another, funding priorities and a stalemate between the district and the teachers union about the use of teacher evaluations to determine this year’s pay raises.

While board opponents have sought to rally support to their cause through those issues, it wasn’t until Williams pitched the new board-appointed curriculum review committee that students started walking out of classes with picket signs lambasting the board for what they claimed was an attempt to sugarcoat American history.

Williams suggested the review first take on Advanced Placement U.S. history, which has gone through a major revision and come under Republican criticism that Williams echoed in her resolution.

Michele Patterson, head of the Jefferson County PTA, told the board that “civil protest is one of the highest forms of patriotism.”

She said she has heard from many PTA members over the last few weeks objecting to the curriculum committee idea.

“If the teachers and students don’t move you, do 13,000 angry parents get your attention?” she asked.

Superintendent Dan McMinimee on Thursday sent to board members a letter that recommended reconfiguring two existing district content review committees instead of creating a new one.

Under McMinimee’s proposal, students would be represented on the committees and board members would have a role in choosing the panelists. Dissenting voices also would be heard, through minority reports.

Board members appeared to agree on the general outline of McMinimee’s proposal but minority members Lesley Dahlkemper and Jill Fellman were adamant about getting more time to study the details before voting.

Staff writers Jesse Paul and Eric Gorski contributed to this report.