We’ve opened a tab at the Tipsy Cow and Burp Bar down the block from the Denver School Board to keep a closer eye on the missteps, shadiness and petulant power plays that continue to take precedence over the safety of students.
When last we visited, the spat between board Vice President Auon’tai “Tay” Anderson and President Xóchitl “Sochi” Gaytán had escalated to yet another censure attempt against Anderson for essentially grandstanding with the media after the March school shooting.
The board swatted that silly spat aside at Monday’s meeting, insisting their internal power struggles must now come secondary to the safety of our children.
Anderson’s antics as usual were out of bounds, but seriously, Gaytán, read the room.
Yet instead of turning their attention to the (checks notes) safety of our children, the board barged straight ahead with a different power play to dissolve an innovation zone and snatch a group of semi-autonomous schools back under the district’s control.
Chalkbeat reports that Kepner Beacon and Grant Beacon middle schools are no longer under the supervision of the Beacon Network Schools.
Several parents said they feared that getting rid of the innovation zone was the first step to getting rid of the schools’ individual innovation status. Schools with innovation status can waive rules, laws, and teachers union contract provisions to do things they believe will improve student learning. But unlike schools in zones, individual innovation schools are overseen by DPS.
“The lived experiences of the people in the community don’t match what we’re talking about here,” said (Carrie) Olson, a former teacher who taught for years at Kepner Middle School before it was restarted as Kepner Beacon. “All they see once again is that Denver Public Schools is coming into the neighborhood and saying, ‘We know best.’”
Also this week, more than 500 parents that make up the Parents-Safety Advocacy Group (P-SAG) vowed to hold weekly press conferences at East High School until the board gets its shit together and implements a realistic discipline plan to deal with increasing levels of violence gone unpunished under the current board’s regime.
In the meantime, our tab remains open …