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Mother of former McAuliffe student says she had no issue with use of room to de-escalate kids

School board members assert predominantly Black and brown students were locked in the room without an adult present.

DENVER — A woman whose son attended McAuliffe International School for three years said Tuesday she had no issues when he was placed in a room to settle down after troubles in class.

Jessica Hawthorn’s comments came after assertions that what Denver Public Schools calls a “monitored seclusion room” at McAuliffe was used predominantly on Black and brown students who were sometimes left alone.

That room has a lock on the outside of the door.

Hawthorn told 9NEWS she does not believe her son was ever in the room alone, or that there was a lock on the door during his time at McAuliffe, which ran from 2018 into 2021 – with about a year of remote learning during the pandemic.

Over his time at the school, she estimated her son was in the room dozens of times.

“They would say, you know, he needed to calm down – he was triggered, he would need to de-escalate,” Hawthorn said. “I don't think it's anything like the room being described right now, because my son says that it has had pillows, that it had a punching bag, and sometimes they even brought a therapy dog in there.”

There was also always a staff member present, she said.

Hawthorn also expressed support for Kurt Dennis, the McAuliffe principal who was fired after speaking to 9NEWS earlier this year about his concerns about the way DPS handled violent students. Dennis’ comments came after a student pulled a gun and shot two deans at East High School while they were patting him down.

In recent days, school board members have asserted that McAuliffe administrators violated district policy by locking students in the room without an adult.

David Lane, Dennis’ attorney, disputed that allegation, telling 9NEWS that students were in the room alone only when it was too dangerous to have an adult in there as well. In those cases, Lane said, Dennis monitored the student through a window until it was safe to enter with a psychologist or special education teacher.

Lane also said the way Dennis used the room violated no DPS policy.

Finally, Lane said the room was used for two students last school year – one Black, one white.

Hawthorn adopted her son from Ethiopia when he was 4, and she said his transition to school was difficult.

“He had a hard time sitting in the classroom,” she said. “I attributed it for a while, of course, to just language, adjusting to the United States.”

Eventually he was medicated for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, but he still struggled in school. That led to moves to a number of different schools before he was finally diagnosed with autism.

He moved to McAuliffe in 2018, and Hawthorn said it was different from every other school he attended.

“They said they wouldn't isolate him in a special classroom, and that he would have a locker, he would change classes, and he would be just like every other student at McAuliffe,” Hawthorn said.

He still had problems from time to time – including several fights and an altercation with a teacher. And she estimated that her son used the room dozens of times during his years at McAuliffe.

She said had there been a lock on the door – or had her son been left alone – she would have felt differently. But she also said she has a hard time believing the Dennis she knew would have done what’s been alleged.

“The way he directed his staff to handle kids with special education issues was much different -- and not punitive, like it was in other schools where my son was just asked to leave all the time,” Hawthorn said.

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