Lawsuit filed by fired principal Kurt Dennis against Denver Public Schools advances ...Middle East

A U.S. district judge rejected a request from Denver Public Schools to throw out a lawsuit in which a longtime former principal says he was fired because he spoke out against the district’s student safety policies and argues the district violated his right to free speech.

Judge John Kane is advancing former McAuliffe International School Principal Kurt Dennis’ lawsuit against DPS Superintendent Alex Marrero and the school board, rejecting the defendants’ motion to dismiss the case on Dec. 24.

Dennis, 52, sued the district and board Sept. 5, 2023, after he was fired following a March 2023 interview with 9News in which he raised concerns about DPS’s approach to school safety. Dennis aired his concerns two days after a shooting at East High School that injured two administrators and ended with the student suspect, Austin Lyle, dead.

In asking the judge to toss out the lawsuit, DPS said Dennis’ interview was not protected by free speech because he violated student privacy rights, including through the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, when he gave 9News redacted records of a student posing a threat to his school. The district also asserts that Dennis gave the interview as part of his “official duties” as a DPS principal, meaning he can face “disciplinary measures.”

Judge Kane struck down those arguments. Kane wrote in his ruling that FERPA’s nondisclosure provisions do not apply to individual cases of disclosure, per the U.S. Supreme Court. They only apply to institutions’ policies.

“Even if FERPA did make an individual’s actions unlawful, based on the record before me, the information disclosed by Mr. Dennis is not covered by the Act,” Kane wrote.

Additionally, Kane rejected the defendants’ claim that Dennis spoke to 9News in his official capacity as a DPS principal. Kane wrote that he found it “plausible” that Dennis was speaking as a private citizen rather than a DPS employee.

“Mr. Dennis’s speech was not limited to a McAuliffe- or DPS-specific audience,” he wrote. “Instead, the intended audience for his speech was the general public via a public news channel. His message, while school related, was the type of criticism a non-government employee, i.e., a private citizen, could make and was made in a forum — a local news channel — available to a private citizen.”

Dennis, who became the founding principal of McAuliffe International School in 2012, told The Colorado Sun that the judge’s decision to allow his case to continue reinforced his rights to voice his worries with the district’s safety practices.

“We’re excited,” he said. “I think that to some degree it validates our position that, as a whistleblower, I had a right to share with my community my concern for a policy that I believe was jeopardizing the safety of students and staff at my school and schools across our school district. And I thought that that was something that our parents needed to know existed, and my hope was it would facilitate a debate and a change of policy from the district. Unfortunately, that’s not what happened, but I think that the judge has affirmed our belief that in doing so I had first amendment rights and that whistleblowers are protected for a reason. And our hope is that we get justice.” 

In an email, DPS spokesperson Stephanie Eastland wrote that it is unlikely the district can comment on the lawsuit until after winter break in January.

According to the lawsuit, Dennis learned about a potentially dangerous student at his school in early 2023, when the Denver District Attorney’s office informed him that one of his students had been charged with possession of an illegal firearm. That same student racked up eight other charges later on, including attempted murder.

The lawsuit states that Dennis and his school team determined that the student presented “a high level of concern” after conducting a threat assessment. The lawsuit notes that the Denver Police Department had similarly concluded that the student “posed a danger to the school community” and should not be on the middle school’s campus.

Dennis advocated for the student to enroll in an online education program, but the district denied that option. Dennis tried to expel the student and, again, DPS objected, arguing that because the student’s actions took place off campus, the student should be allowed to continue their education at McAuliffe International School, according to the lawsuit.

The student was charged with attempted murder after trying to rob a liquor store and shooting the clerk on duty, Denver7 reported.

The district devised a “safety plan” for the student, mandating that school staff search and pat-down the student every day when they showed up to school. But the district did not provide any training on how to pat-down the student, the lawsuit states.

A couple days after the shooting at East High School — where staff were using the same pat-down procedure on the student who became the shooter — Dennis expressed his concerns with the district’s pat-down policy on camera with 9News. He detailed his frustration over the district’s decision to keep the student posing a risk to his school on campus. Dennis, who was interviewed in his school office but not during school hours, did not identify the student or share any specific details that would give away the student’s identity, the lawsuit states.

“My conscience wouldn’t allow for me to be silent, and my staff knew what was going on and I needed to stand up for them,” Dennis told The Sun, questioning why a school should open its doors to a student posing a violent threat when no other workplace environment would allow someone charged with violent crimes.

Following the 9News interview, the school board indicated on its public agenda that members planned to meet with an attorney to ask for legal advice related to personnel matters, according to the lawsuit. Dennis was interviewed by the district’s human resources department as part of an investigation to understand whether he had violated any board policies. About two weeks after Dennis spoke to 9News, the district sent his supervisor, Colleen O’Brien from the Northeast District Innovation Zone, a letter stating concerns about how she managed him.

The lawsuit states that the district notified Dennis that he was fired in two letters on July 23, 2023, one of which alleged he violated district policies.

Under a contract between DPS and NDIZ — a nonprofit that worked with the district to run McAuliffe International School — DPS could not remove school leaders “without seeking the approval” of NDIZ.

According to the lawsuit, DPS never reached out to O’Brien outside the letter sent to her a few weeks after Dennis’ interview with 9News.

In August 2023, three board members organized a public town hall meeting to talk about dismissing Dennis. One of those board members, Auon’tai Anderson — who no longer serves on the board — complained to Denver Police about how Dennis used a de-escalation room at McAuliffe International School. That room, developed through a DPS policy, was designed to help calm agitated students.

Anderson said he had obtained “whistleblower reports” outlining how Dennis had “improperly used” the de-escalation room, including by monitoring kids from outside the room and also latching the door from the outside.

Later that month, the board voted 6-1 to fire Dennis. An updated termination letter sent to Dennis cited his alleged policy violations of the de-escalation room as another reason for the district’s decision to terminate him.

☀️ READ MORE

Colorado tries a new public health campaign about cannabis, this time backed by data

Psilocybin enters the chat: Starting Jan. 1, Coloradans will have a new psychiatric treatment option

What to ask your real estate agent about water in Colorado

Anderson also conducted a news conference where he accused Dennis of putting only students of color in “the alleged seclusion room.”

A DPS investigation concluded that Dennis violated the district’s seclusion policy by holding students or instructing staff to hold students in two seclusion rooms without adequate supervision, Chalkbeat Colorado reported. The district did not find enough evidence to prove that Dennis disproportionately used the seclusion rooms for students of color.

Dennis’ attorney, David Lane, argued that Dennis did not violate district policy since that policy did not spell out how school staff should respond when students showed aggression toward them, Chalkbeat Colorado reported.

Dennis told The Sun that the past 18 months have been trying for him and his family. He said he struggled to find a job after his reputation was tarnished, and he considered leaving the field altogether. The isolation wore on him when he said he became “alienated” from the community he belonged to for more than a decade.

But he found work within a few months as a paraprofessional in a suburban school north of Denver. The move meant a substantial pay cut but reminded him of why he got into education 26 years ago. 

“For my own healing, you get back up on the horse and you ride again,” said Dennis, who is now a school director at another suburban school. “For me, it was just really helpful mentally and emotionally to be...

Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Lawsuit filed by fired principal Kurt Dennis against Denver Public Schools advances )

Also on site :

• Man accused of trying to abduct a child at Walmart released on bond after new video surfaces
• Defiant Serbian leader sends message to EU from Red Square (VIDEO)
• Lizzo Shares Bold Statement About Running Into Nicki Minaj at the Met Gala