DENVER — Days into a Denver Public Schools investigation into the use of a so-called “de-escalation room” inside McAuliffe International School, DPS board members expressed during a press conference the gravity of the situation.
“That’s not a de-escalation room. That’s a prison,” said DPS Board Vice President Auon’tai Anderson in August of this year.
He told members of the press that not only was DPS involved in the investigation, but so was the Denver Police Department.
But four months after those alarming words, 9NEWS has learned that the parents of one of the two students placed into the room at McAuliffe has yet to be contacted by either DPS or DPD officials.
It’s left the student’s mother, who we have agreed to keep anonymous to protect her son, baffled.
The mother, who has spoken positively about her child’s experience in the room, said, “I have not been contacted by anyone about her situation.”
“It’s very strange,” she added. “I think it’s a one-sided investigation if you’re not including everyone involved.”
Just last week, DPD confirmed its investigation into the room remains ongoing. It’s not clear what or who they’re investigating.
The room became a focal point of multiple board press conferences and subsequent news stories. Much of the focus was directed at then-embattled McAuliffe principal Kurt Dennis.
Dennis had authorized a lock on the outside of the room – a decision board members say violated district policy.
Months before news of the de-escalation room filtered to the press, however, Dennis had drawn the ire of board members when he elected to talk to 9NEWS about security concerns he had within the district.
At the time, Dennis told 9NEWS he and his staff had been forced to conduct impromptu pat-downs of a student charged with attempted murder. His words came just days after two deans were shot inside East High School trying to conduct a pat down of a student there.
DPS subsequently fired Dennis. DPS insists his words to 9NEWS didn’t play a role, but Dennis subsequently filed a federal lawsuit that will challenge DPS’s position.
Additionally, 9NEWS has obtained still shots of surveillance footage recorded inside McAuliffe that shows an unannounced visit by board members Scott Esserman and Anderson on August 2 of this year.
The pictures show Esserman, Anderson and Hashim Coates – a campaign manager for both – showing up at the school. Sources say they demanded to see the de-escalation room after receiving an anonymous tip from what they called a whistleblower inside the school a day earlier.
Board policy prohibits board members from conducting their own “investigation or research” on operational matters.
Anderson released a statement to 9NEWS that read:
“On August 1, 2023, I learned about allegations of students being placed in seclusion room(s) at McAuliffe International Middle School, directed by the now-terminated principal Kurt Dennis and other staff. This led to independent investigations by the Denver Public Schools, Denver Police Department, and Colorado Department of Education. On August 2nd, I along with Director Esserman visited the Smiley campus, to confirm the existence of the room, a discovery publicly announced on August 3rd with President Gaytan. This was not in violation of Board Policy as we did not conduct our own investigation into this matter, but relayed this matter of importance to the community as a whole in the spirit of transparency. While transparency about the campus visit has been maintained since the investigation's start, I am disappointed over another breach of district policy involving the sharing of confidential images in hopes to garner salacious headlines in the news. This is diverting our focus from the primary concern: student welfare.”
In addition, Esserman wrote, “I was incredibly concerned for the well being of the students at McCauliffe middle school after hearing the allegations of the seclusion room. I felt it was important to see it with my own eyes which is why I visited the school. My priority has always been and always will be the well being and safety of DPS students and staff.”
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