Nothing screams “dysfunctional” like a five-hour-plus school board meeting closed to the press and public, in which board members and the superintendent bicker over blame, credit, turf and optics – a day after a school shooting by a student in the district seriously wounded two staffers.

It all reflects an astonishing detachment from reality.

And that’s not to mention the meeting itself violated the state’s open-meeting law.

Of course, it’s no wonder Denver Public Schools’ board and administration had wanted to shut out the media and fought for weeks afterward against releasing a recording of the March 23 proceedings. It resisted disclosure even after a judge ordered the district to turn it over.

The recording finally was released on Saturday – only after growing pressure from fed-up parents and a legal challenge by The Gazette and other news outlets spurred an about-face by the board. The picture that emerges from the video is of “leadership” at war with itself, preoccupied with its image, and in denial about its most urgent responsibilities.

Stay up to speed: Sign-up for daily opinion in your inbox Monday-Friday

All of which makes the case even clearer: The board of Colorado’s largest school district has got to go.

Its ineptitude, squabbling and dubious policy moves – like attempting to scrap decades of highly successful reforms implemented by previous boards – pale next to the indifference the board displayed toward fundamental student safety in the aftermath of the March 22 shooting at Denver’s East High School. The board failed to grasp children’s lives are at risk.

Not only did some key board members continue to defend their absurd resistance to bringing Denver police back to campus after dismissing them in 2020, but one also actually scolded Superintendent Alex Marrero during the meeting for ordering the cops’ temporary return immediately after the shooting.

It seems Marrero’s order had upstaged them, and board Vice President Tay Anderson would have none of that.

“Your words put us in danger because you made the community look at us and act like we weren’t responsive to them,” Anderson said. “You’ve made yourself a hero. Everybody is applauding you. Everybody is supporting you right now. … (They’re saying) thank you for your courage, Superintendent Marrero, but (expletive) the rest of the seven board members.”

Yep, that was Anderson’s focus – that Marrero’s swift (and needed) action stole the limelight.

Anderson has since announced he won’t seek reelection this fall, when his at-large board seat is up for grabs along with two others. Seeing as it’s probably the next best thing to his outright resignation, we’ll take it.

Give board member Charmaine Lindsay credit for at least pointing out the value of police school resource officers on campus.

“What are they supposed to do if they find somebody with a gun?” Lindsay said. “When there’s nobody at the school to offer either any kind of support or any kind of backup to the student that is carrying a gun?”

Other board members seemed grudging at best, however, on allowing cops back in school – however much children’s lives might depend on it in the next crisis.

Even the meeting’s eventual turn toward bringing back school resource officers seemed motivated more by appearances than because it actually was the right thing to do. The publicity-hungry and media-savvy Anderson made that abundantly clear, as well, in the video.

“In one hour,” he pronounced dramatically, “we are supposed to go out and face every camera in America … CNN is here, the Today Show is here, Good Morning America is here.”

Good grief. Get the hook.

It’s a pity only three of the board’s seven seats are on the ballot this fall. Even so, the election can’t come soon enough.

Denver Gazette Editorial Board