Opinion: Parents’ Fears Grow Amid Safety Debates
DPS School Board Races Highlight Painful Rifts Emerging After East Shootings And The Mess At McAuliffe
by Nancy Watzman
For the GPHN
Like so many, I’m scared. Last school year began with my then-East High School senior texting a video of police cars and yellow tape from the window where he was on lockdown at Carla Madison. We know what followed: more lockdowns, shooting, and tragically, injuries and death.
There may be no more primal urge than protecting our children. The public debate that has followed about what school safety means will affect our votes in upcoming school board elections. It has also revealed deep and painful rifts in our neighborhood.
Guns are everywhere, and deaths are going up in Colorado as they have across the country. In 2021, 82 people aged 19 and under died by firearms in Colorado, according to CPHDE data analyzed by the Colorado Sun. We have a lot of company in tragedy: In Philadelphia, Chalkbeat reported in March 2023 that 78 students had been shot so far during that school year, 17 fatally. In New York City, over a similar time period, more than 60 school-aged children were shot, according to Campus Safety Magazine.
Amidst all these painful deaths is a stark fact: Black children and teens were five times as likely as their white classmates to die from gunfire, according to a 2023 Pew Research report.
In Denver, largely white, affluent parents mobilizing in private Facebook groups such as P-SAG and McAuliffe Strong are pushing to change DPS’s “discipline matrix” to create tougher penalties. Demands go beyond firearm offenses to such violations as drug possession and sale.
Travel through the social media mirror to Black activist and community leader Jeff Fard’s Facebook Live show, and a different Denver emerges — one where guests and commenters express that racial inequity is intrinsically intertwined with discussions of school safety.
Many proposed changes to the discipline matrix would mark rollbacks from reforms made after the 2020 pandemic era protests over George Floyd’s death, and from a general movement toward restorative justice practices in schools with the goal of reducing racial inequities in discipline enforcement.
Last summer, thousands of community members signed a petition protesting the firing of McAuliffe International School principal Kurt Dennis. Dennis had gone on 9News following the March shootings at East, raising alarm that a student at McAuliffe, who faced attempted murder charges, posed a threat to the school.
A few weeks later Dennis faced criticism about the use of a “incarceration” room at his school – that students of color had been locked in this room in a manner that violated DPS rules. Dennis asserted that it was a “de-escalation” room used in limited circumstances with the agreement of parents, and not just with students of color.
For many parents who have had positive experiences at top-performing McAuliffe, trust in Dennis is absolute. But trust is not automatic from everyone. Fard has said he does not think Dennis is racist, but that he works in a racist system. Meanwhile, the jury is still out on certain claims — including how many students were locked in the room.
Facebook groups provide a way to share information and organize, but there is a lot of bad behavior — individuals held up for ridicule and doxxing, conclusions leaped to, posters expelled or made unwelcome when they disagree. TV news often leans into the sensational.
Over at Boardhawk, longtime Denver education journalist Alan Gottlieb publishes scorching online criticisms of the school board, as well as pro-school-innovation analyses. Chalkbeat Colorado publishes long-form news stories, such as a 2020 investigation into the use of “seclusion” rooms throughout the state; disparate rates of discipline by race at McAuliffe and districtwide; and how Denver differs from neighboring counties on expulsion policies.
Our local dilemma is drawing national attention from politicized corners: the conservative outlet National Review has been closely following Dennis’ firing.
Meanwhile, parents are terrified. Gun violence may be everywhere, but we want our schools to be safe, sacrosanct. There are big decisions to make, informed by our values. If more students are expelled, where do they go? Are we safer if they’re on the streets?
Many have voiced support for special schools with wraparound services, but would we be willing to open our wallets for those, and where would they be located? How do we allocate limited resources among needs such as mental health services and security measures, while making sure students are learning?
We need school leaders who tell us what they want to do, and also, why.
Nancy Watzman is a Park Hill parent. Shiva Latchmansingh contributed research.