Protestors rally outside of the Emily Griffith Technical College at 1860 Lincoln St. in Denver on April 17, 2023. (Alex Edwards/The Denver Gazette)

Alex Edwards
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The Denver Public Schools board got an earful Monday from parents and others concerned about school safety at the first public comment session since a March 22 shooting injured two administrators at East High School.

Other speakers objected to the board’s recent decision to end an innovation zone in Denver’s Westwood neighborhood.

While most of the school safety comments were about East High, a group of parents rallied outside the building at the start of the meeting to draw attention to safety at middle schools.

Some of the middle school parents also addressed the board.

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Becky Nemec, who has two students enrolled in DPS, said a student at McAuliffe was charged with attempted murder and is subject to daily pat downs by school administrators. 

“Our teachers’ and administrators’ energies and focuses are now on disruptive kids and all the other students’ learning is impacted,” she said. “The decisions made by this board are unforgettable, especially in that I have yet to see or hear any understanding from any of you on how your policies are impacting the lives of the average people within the school system.”

Nemec concluded by calling for the resignation of all DPS board members, seeking a “fresh start.”

One of Jennifer Eure’s children is a sophomore at East High School, and another graduated from Denver School of the Arts last year.

She said she was far from impressed with the reactions from school board members following the shooting that injured two administrators. 

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“Right now we’re failing (our kids) with ineffective security and terrible discipline policy… Unprofessional and immature social media posts are not effective communication,” she said. “This is not a knee jerk reaction, it is our response to a dysfunctional absent board that showed zero leadership. Find sensible middle ground and that should not take five to 10 years.”

Those representing the Westwood schools showed up at about 5:30 p.m. with a bullhorn.

They chanted “We are here and not going anywhere” outside the board meeting and at Emily Griffith Technical College at 1860 Lincoln St.

Security scrambled to prevent them from interrupting the board meeting and told the group they’d have to quiet down before going inside. 

“The whole point of this is for the community to be heard, and they feel they have not been heard,” said Rachel Sohns, a teacher at one of the schools. “My students told me they want their voices to be heard.”

The group could be heard from inside the board meeting room, prompting board Vice President Auon’tai M. Anderson to briefly scramble out of the chambers. He was one of two members to vote against revoking the innovation zones, the other being Director Carrie A. Olson.

Student Kamilla Marquez lambasted those who voted for the revocation. 

“I feel completely ignored by the people who supposedly represent my community and my school,” Marquez said. “I’d like to ask that you don’t insinuate that you represent us because you didn’t have the decency to respect the vote of our teachers, our parents and myself.”