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In a 6-1 vote Thursday, the Denver school board approved the firing of McAuliffe International School Principal Kurt Dennis, backing a decision by the superintendent that sparked both fierce backlash from Dennis' supporters and a new set of accusations against him.
The discussion was heated, with board members condemning both the existence of a seclusion room at McAuliffe in which students were locked inside alone and a televised news interview in which Dennis shared redacted documents about a student who'd been charged with a crime.
Board member Scott Baldermann was the sole no vote. He argued that the board didn't follow its own policies. He especially took issue with a press conference at which other board members spoke about the seclusion room before a district investigation was complete.
Scott Esserman, one of the board members at the press conference, said Baldermann's take was "troubling." While Esserman denied that board members violated policy, he also said, "I happen to have a higher moral purpose that's more important than any particular self-imposed piece of policy governance. And that's to engage in ensuring our children are safe."
Board Vice President Auon'tai Anderson read a poem he'd written that denounced the use of the seclusion room, which he and others have said was used with Black students.
"It pains my heart to know a child was in a cage," he said, "viewed as a spectacle, fury, and rage."
