Parents are calling for entire Denver school board to resign

After violent shootings and months of incompetent management, parents and residents are calling for the entire Denver Public School board to resign.

“There’s too much dysfunction,” said Dorian Warren, a local mother whose son attends a Denver public school. “I’ve really questioned whether or not he’s going to be safe.”

Warren is on the leadership committee of Resign DPS, a grassroots movement of residents who say they’re “fed up with the Board’s record on school safety, its dysfunctionality, incompetence, infighting, and commitment to mediocrity.”

Resign DPS protested at the board’s public meeting on Monday and are also gathering signatures for a petition calling on board members to resign.

If board members refuse to step down, the group notes that three of the members are up for re-election in November and the other four could be recalled. 

“The seven that are running the school board right now are running it into the ground,” said Danny Foster, a father of three and alumnus of DPS. “They really have put their political ideology over practicality, and it has damaged these children, and we’ve seen it.” 

In the fall, DPS’s superintendent recommended the closure of 10 schools, which some residents blamed on district mismanagement. The city council also criticized him for skipping a school safety meeting on Monday. 

This, after a high school student shot two staff members last month and another student was murdered near the school.

The district has also been accused of neglecting its special education students.

Nonetheless, Auon’tai Anderson, vice president of the board, criticized the calls for resignations, saying it won’t help students.

“I don’t believe this group effort to recall, or have the school board resign, is focused on students,” Anderson told local media. “I plan to keep my job. I have not heard from any other of my colleagues that they plan to step down anytime soon.”

Meanwhile, a report from The Denver Post shows the school board spent $43,000 on conflict mediation consultants for disputes between board members.

This isn't "focusing on the kids" $43K spent on board to get along. ….https://t.co/NHRO8IPKHm

— Resign DPS School Board (@ResignDPS) April 18, 2023

However, parent groups have become quite adept at placing pressure on mismanaged school boards.

The most prominent example was a group from Loudoun County who fought back against the school’s progressive agenda – an agenda that enabled a transgender student to sexually assault two female peers.

Loudoun parents eventually persuaded a school board member to resign, while the superintendent was fired. And last week, the U.S. Department of Education even launched an investigation into the district’s practices.

Such issues have sparked similar protests around the nation, as parents are say they are reclaiming their role in their children’s education.