A media coalition that includes The Denver Gazette and Colorado Politics filed a lawsuit against Denver Public Schools, alleging the school district violated Colorado’s open meetings laws when the board held a March executive session to discuss the return of school resource officers. 

The lawsuit, filed on Friday in Denver District Court, includes the Denver Post, Chalkbeat Colorado, KDVR Fox31, KUSA 9News, Colorado Newsline and the Nexstar Media Group Inc. The lawsuit names as defendant Stacy Wheeler in her official capacity as the district’s records custodian.

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The media coalition is seeking access to the recording and meeting minutes from a five-hour long closed-door meeting the DPS board held on March 23. The media outlets sought the records from DPS, which denied them. 

DPS’s action, the lawsuit alleged, violated Colorado’s open meeting laws. 

“DPS failed to announce to the public, as required by law, the ‘particular topic’ it would be discussing,” the lawsuit said. 

At the meeting, the board discussed security in the wake of the March 22 shooting at East High School that left two deans wounded. Board members emerged from that executive session with a memo reversing its policy that kicked out school resource officers from DPS schools.

“Under settled and binding law, the meeting was not an ‘executive session,’ but rather an unlawfully closed public meeting,” the lawsuit said. “The audio recording and/or minutes of that meeting are a public record and should be immediately released to Plaintiffs.”

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The lawsuit added: “No public discussion, whatsoever, preceded the Board’s historic about-face concerning its policy of preventing armed ‘School Resource Officers’ inside the District’s high schools. None. It is clear and irrefutable that the Board had already decided, behind closed doors, to adopt the position or resolution in the Memorandum that they then unanimously voted to approve in public without discussion – a mere ‘rubber stamping’ of their earlier decision.”

In denying the records request from the Denver Gazette, Wheeler said DPS has the records, but they are “not subject to disclosure” under the Colorado Open Meetings or the Colorado Open Records Act.

A DPS spokesperson told FOX31, which is part of the coalition, that the district doesn’t comment on ongoing litigation.

Attorneys Steven Zansberg and Rachael Johnson of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press are representing the media outlets. 

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