Denver school board votes to support district’s firing of former McAuliffe International School principal

Denver’s school board voted Thursday against reinstating a middle school principal who was fired after publicly speaking out about the district’s educators being required to check students for weapons.

Denver Public Schools fired former McAuliffe International School Principal Kurt Dennis in July, months after he spoke out about school safety in a television interview after the March shooting at East High School in which a teen undergoing a weapons search shot and wounded two deans.

The Board of Education voted 6-1 to support Superintendent Alex Marrero’s recommendation that Dennis be fired.

Scott Baldermann was the only board member to vote against the termination, citing the way other directors have handled allegations from a McAuliffe employee who said students of color were locked inside a room at the school multiple times during the last academic year.

Three board members, including President Xóchitl “Sochi” Gaytán and Vice President Auon’tai Anderson, announced at a news conference this month that DPS was investigating the use of a “seclusion room”  at McAuliffe and whether students of color were locked in the room alone. The Denver Police Department and the Colorado Department of Education are also investigating the use of the room.

The allegations were made — and the subsequent investigations started — after Dennis was fired.

Baldermann said that the news conference was not appropriate because it did not follow board policies, and he had asked for the vote to be postponed to “ensure a fair and objective process.”

“I’m voting no because we didn’t do this right,” he said.

Other board members pushed back on Baldermann’s statements.

“We revealed nothing,” said board member Scott Esserman, who was also at the news conference this month. “We … shared with public what was already going on.”

“This is about students,” he added, “not somebody’s reelection bid.”

Another board member, Michelle Quattlebaum, said: “Our children, our students and families of color deserve the respect to be believed.”

Dennis, who called the room a “deescalation room,” has said the space and method were “district-sanctioned.” ”

“I will always have great memories and fondness for my time at McAuliffe,” Dennis said in a statement Thursday before the vote. “We built a really special school and community over the course of the past 12 years, and I will miss working with the incredible staff, students and parents.  I am looking forward to a new chapter in my life and continuing my career in education serving students in a new school district soon.”

Dennis said during a news interview in March that DPS staff members are required to check students for weapons, including one whom he alleged was charged with attempted murder.

DPS officials have said the former principal shared confidential student information in violation of state and federal laws during the interview. They also alleged in his termination letter that there have been complaints and investigations into McAuliffe’s use of discipline in recent years, including the “overuse” of suspensions that disproportionately affected students of color.

This month DPS placed the interim principal of McAuliffe who had succeeded Dennis on paid leave. Anderson previously alleged that the employee – Micah Klaver – was potentially involved in putting students in the room.

McAuliffe’s new interim principal is former Northfield High Principal Amy Bringedahl.

Parents and others in the community had called on the school board to reinstate Dennis. But even if the board had decided to reconsider the termination, it was unlikely Dennis would have returned to McAuliffe.

The district asks the school board to approve what is called “the Personnel Transaction Report” each month. The report details any hirings, resignations and terminations that have occurred in the district.