A Denver district court judge found “reasonable belief” the Denver Public Schools board violated Colorado’s open meetings law in an executive session in March, in which they emerged with a memo reversing the district’s policy that kicked out school resource officers.

A coalition of news outlets, including the Denver Gazette and Colorado Politics, sued the Board of Education and its custodian of records for the release of a recording and minutes of the executive session from the special meeting the board held on March 23. The meeting took place the day after a student at East High School shot two administrators before taking his own life.

Denver Gazette, news outlets file lawsuit against Denver Public Schools over executive session

The Board of Education removed school resource officers from the district in 2020, in the wake of national protests over the death of George Floyd and concerns about what some say is the “school to prison pipeline” exacerbated by the presence of law enforcement officers in schools.

The board reversed that policy in March, deciding to return officers to some schools for the rest of the academic year. The day before, a student at East High School allegedly shot two school administrators on March 22 before fleeing and killing himself hours later. The student, Austin Lyle, underwent daily searches as a condition of attending the school.

The Board of Education voted last week, 4-3, to bring back school resource officers on a long-term basis.

DPS board votes 4-3 to bring school resource officers back

Colorado’s Open Meetings Law bars policymaking in secret.

In the June 20 order, Judge Andrew Luxen said the coalition of news organizations has shown grounds for reasonable belief the Board of Education violated the Open Meetings Law by either adopting a policy or engaging in “substantial discussion” of matters not expressly permitted under the statutes. He ordered Denver Public Schools to turn over the recording and minutes of the session by Thursday so he can review them.

The Denver Gazette has reached out to a board spokesperson and President Xóchitl Gaytán for comment.

Under the law, a public body can go into executive session to purchase property, consult with an attorney for legal advice and for certain matters considered confidential, such as personnel issues or matters concerning individual students. The law does not allow for discussing policy changes in executive session.

Luxen’s order noted that the school board returned from its executive session and unanimously voted, without any public debate, to temporarily return police officers as school resource officers to some schools and to direct Superintendent Alex Marrero to come up with a long-term safety plan for the district.

In an email obtained by the Denver Gazette, Marrero told the school board hours after the shooting he wanted to have two armed police officers stationed at East High School for the rest of the school year. He said the district policy against armed officers in schools did not allow for it and asked to discuss the matter in an executive session the next day.

Denver Public Schools superintendent requested secret meeting to discuss policy change

The lawsuit also claims the Board of Education violated the Open Meetings Law because its public notice of the executive session wasn’t specific enough about the topic of the session. Luxen said he cannot yet tell if the notice violated the law.