The former principal of McAuliffe International School Kurt Dennis officially filed suit against Denver Public Schools and several top leaders Tuesday over his firing.
DENVER — Former McAuliffe International School principal Kurt Dennis has filed a lawsuit against Denver Public Schools, alleging the district fired him in retaliation for publicly speaking out against the daily pat down of students in the wake of the March shooting at East High School.
The complaint also alleges school leaders weren't given training on what to do if they found a dangerous weapon, like a firearm. The student Dennis referenced in his interview was criminally charged with attempted murder after entering a liquor store to rob it and shooting the clerk behind the counter, according to the lawsuit. Then the Denver Police Department recommended this student should not be allowed on campus, otherwise the student could be a danger to others.
Dennis said he was careful not to mention the student’s name, age, gender or any other personally identifying information in his interview with Denver news media. He also supplied documents related to the student’s charges, which were redacted to remove all personally identifying information about the student.
Lane's comments were in response to prior allegations from the district that claimed Dennis violated policy by leaving students by themselves in the room, which Lane said was not true because"there is no DPS policy on what to do if a kid in a de-escalation room attacks you," as he cited one instance in which a student was physically violent toward Dennis, who in order to protect himself, had to leave the room and wait for the student to calm down before entering again.
There were cases when escalated students would fight with Dennis to open the door and leave the room, so a small latch was installed because Dennis said he feared that someone’s finger would be slammed in the door, court documents state, but the latch was removed when staff became worried about being accidentally locked into the room with an escalated student and being unable to quickly escape.
The letter cited several investigations that DPS had conducted over the years, based on occasional complaints from parents or staff. All prior investigations had come back “unfounded,” showing Dennis had not made any DPS policy violations of any kind, according to the lawsuit.
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