A Denver Public Schools investigation into the use of a locked de-scalation room at McAuliffe International Middle School did not find evidence of racial discrimination, according to an internal report obtained by The Denver Gazette.

An attorney for the school’s recently fired principal, Kurt Dennis, provided a copy of the results of an investigation into seclusion rooms.

Dennis was fired in July for other reasons.

Popular among many parents, the principal’s firing has generated public outrage and a petition with more than 6,200 signatures demanding his reinstatement.

Dennis’ attorney, David Lane, has said the principal’s firing stemmed from an interview he gave The Denver Gazette’s news partner, 9News, after two East High School administrators were shot on March 22. In that 9News interview, Dennis said the district pressured him to accommodate potentially dangerous students, including one accused of attempted murder.

“They keep coming up with new excuses for why they fired Kurt Dennis,” Lane said.

Lane added: “His life has been turned upside down, but he doesn’t regret it because he did the right thing.”

The board of education affirmed the superintendent’s termination decision last week.

DPS Board President Xóchitl Gaytán declined to comment on the report Wednesday, saying that there are still active investigations.

“I wish I could,” Gaytán told The Denver Gazette. “There’s still ongoing investigations, plural, from CDE (Colorado Department of Education) and Denver Police.”

Until those investigations are complete, as a whole, the board cannot comment on it,” Gaytán said.

The three-page internal report concluded Dennis did not engage in the “legal definitions of unlawful discrimination, harassment, or retaliation” when placing McAuliffe International students in a de-escalation room without supervision and prevented them from leaving.

Generally speaking, discrimination occurs when an individual acts because of the actual or perceived race or national origin of another person.

A Denver Public Schools spokesman confirmed the document’s authenticity.

The district’s investigation found there was evidence that the seclusion room at McAuliffe – under Dennis’ direction – violated policy but did not support claims by board members who have said students were treated differently based on their race.

For weeks, school board members have publicly accused Dennis of racism.

Under public pressure for Dennis’ firing, the board focused on new allegations the former principal locked McAuliffe students inside a de-escalation room for unruly students in a style that failed to meet district standards.

A number of board members, including Vice President Auon’tai Anderson, have called the de-escalation room, which are commonly used across the district, an “incarceration room.”

The district uses de-escalation rooms as a kind of time out for agitated students to calm down. Students, however, are not supposed to be placed in the room by themselves and the door should not be closed or locked under the district’s policy. 

Over the past decade, more complaints have been lodged against McAuliffe International – under the leadership of Dennis – than any other school in the district for its treatment of special education students, Pam Bisceglia, executive director of AdvocacyDenver earlier said. The organization has filed complaints.

As part of the district investigation, human resources officials interviewed two dozen witnesses and three students who made complaints. District investigators also examined emails, special education meeting notes and public statements Dennis and his attorney have made.

While the internal investigation discovered Dennis had – or directed staff to – place students in the school’s de-escalation rooms without proper supervision, it also found insufficient evidence that he “treated the student complainants or impacted party differently based on their race, color or national origin as it relates to placement in rooms 115 and 121E for the purposes of seclusion.”

Despite these findings, officials insisted they believe Dennis failed to meet district expectations.

“In DPS, even if our employees’ actions do not meet the legal definitions of unlawful discrimination, harassment, or retaliation, they ‘may still fail to meet the district’s expectations for affirming and inclusive environments,'” Rosalind Sullivan, the district’s discrimination prevention and response designee, wrote Dennis on Monday .

An internal survey of Dennis – obtained by The Denver Gazette and confirmed by the district – contradicts this.

Called a “CollaboRATE Survey,” the three-part appraisal measures “employee engagement and satisfaction,” while also providing feedback to leadership, according to the district.

Conducted last academic year, the survey found the former principal enjoyed wide support at McAuliffe with 86% of respondents saying Dennis exhibited district values and created a welcoming environment that engaged people from diverse backgrounds and cultures.

Areas of growth highlighted in the report included “people and culture,” as well as “community and equity.”

Anderson, meanwhile, doubled down on his assertions.

While clarifying that no one on the board said race was the “sole reason” for the use of the seclusion room, students of color – particularly Black students – were disproportionately affected, he maintained.

“If it wasn’t about race, then help me understand why all the students in that room were children of color,” Anderson said.

Anderson added, “There does become a point where we do have to talk about implicit bias and racial bias influence on decisions.”

The NAACP Denver branch is also investigating the use of seclusion rooms at McAuliffe. The local president told The Denver Gazette on Wednesday that, depending on the findings, the NAACP could make recommendations and conduct follow ups with the district.

“We’re problem solvers, we’re not just activists,” said Sondra Young, president of NAACP Denver branch. “We just want to get to the bottom of this. We need to find out what’s going on in that room.”