Why DCSD Parents are Gravely Concerned

Estimated Read Time: 7 minutes

Since last month’s school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, we have seen many social media posts with parents in Douglas County expressing concern and fear about arming teachers. To some, these fears may seem like an overreaction to a national tragedy; however, this fear is based on legitimate actions and affiliations of our new DCSD BoE Directors and Superintendent.

2018

To get the full picture, let’s go back to 2018 when then Superintendent Thomas Tucker was alerted that Ascent Academy (a DCSD charter school) was planning to allow school staff to carry firearms in their school. This was met with resistance from some DCSD leadership as then DCSD BoE Director Anne-Marie Lemuiex explicitly voiced disapproval with arming school staff.  

The DCSD BoE, in 2018, approved a policy revision for Policy ADD explicitly condemning the arming of teachers and staff. 

“Procedures for the employment, training and use of armed security officers to provide security of school buildings, events and grounds, including requirements that: any armed security officer be employed solely for security purposes; that any armed security officer be P.O.S.T. certified (certified by Peace Officer Standards and Board File: ADD Douglas County School District RE-1, Castle Rock, Colorado Page 2 of 3 Training); and, that uniformed armed security not be allowed to conceal their weapons while engaging in their duties.” 

In the end, Ascent Classical Academy’s charter was transferred to the state charter, the Colorado Charter School Institute, in 2020.

2019

After the STEM School shooting in May 2019, the next scheduled BoE meeting intentionally allowed for time for public comment regarding school safety concerns.  While many ideas were introduced, we want to highlight a specific suggestion made in public comment to invite Laura Carno to a town hall.  Carno is Executive Director of FASTER Colorado (Faculty/Administrator Safety Training and Emergency Response), which trains armed school staff and is a division of the Independence Institute.  

The conversation about armed teachers continued when then Superintendent Tucker and current Superintendent Erin Kane, who at the time was Executive Director of American Academy, both spoke on a panel at the State Capitol in 2019 as part of a hearing held by the Colorado Legislature’s School Safety Committee.  Superintendent Tucker, representing DCSD in his role as Superintendent, firmly stated that any DCSD school who wanted to pursue arming teachers would be asked to leave DCSD’s oversight stating, “We will fight tooth and nail.”  Erin Kane, representing Colorado League of Charter Schools, was in disagreement with DCSD’s plan to prohibit charter schools from arming teachers, stating she is “a believer in charter school autonomy.”  

We do want to note that during this recent superintendent hiring process, Erin Kane appeared to have changed her stance in her March 3 interview with the BoE, stating, “I am not in favor of arming teachers in Douglas County. I certainly do not do that in any of my schools. It is entirely unnecessary.” 

2021

Fast forward to 2021 when the conversation about arming our teachers reignites with the school board election.  The Kids First slate (our now BoE majority members) used campaign donation money (photo from Colorado Secretary of State TRACER data) to purchase services from PIN Business Network, owned by extremist supporter Joe Oltmann.  Joe Oltmann is also connected to FEC United and DCF Guns and recently called for seizing control of the US government. 

As a school board candidate, Director Mike Peterson expressed interest in partnering with private businesses for school security issues.  He specifically identified Able Shepherd as a potential partner, a self-described “self-defense program utilizing armed and unarmed tactics,” during the context of a candidate forum (39:40) on October 13, 2021 at Castle View High School. His statement included:

“You need planning, partnership, and proficiency, before events happen. That’s partnering with our law enforcement experts, partnering with our other folks in the community. Groups like Able Shepherd.”

Although the school board director position is intended to be nonpartisan, the Kids First candidates are ALL registered Republicans, campaigned as a slate, and were all endorsed by the Douglas County GOP.

The Douglas County GOP’s 2020 caucus (page 1, item 17) listed arming school personnel in their resolutions.  In addition, a past Douglas County GOP Educational Tenet clearly states they are in favor of arming teachers.  This tenant was removed in 2021 from their website.

“We believe our school children have the right to be educated in safety. Our schools must not be gun-free zones, where violent predators are allowed to threaten the lives of students and school personnel with impunity.  We therefore believe that all reasonable measures should be taken to ensure our schools offer a safe, secure learning environment for our kids.  This includes hiring active and/or retired police and military individuals to provide armed security, as well as giving teachers, who are trained in the use of firearms, the right to concealed carry on campus.” 

As we all know, the Kids First slate won the November election and became our current BoE majority members.

2022

Since taking office in November, it is a reasonable question to ask: is the BoE majority beholden to their supporters or are they serving the broader community?

In February, Able Shepherd owner Jimmy Graham, gave public comment at a DCSD BoE meeting urging the DCSD BoE to use Douglas County Commissioner funds that are earmarked for school safety. Did Graham give this public comment out of concern for our students or was this an effort to secure a contract for Able Shepherd with DCSD?  Was he coming to follow up on that statement Director Peterson made at the candidate forum in October 2021?

This year, our majority BoE members have used their position with DCSD to publicly endorse the GOP agenda.  We want to be clear, the majority BoE members were not doing these endorsements as private citizens, they were using their titles as elected officials in the context of the endorsements.  Director Peterson has spoken at The Lincoln Club luncheon from his position as school board president.  All of the BoE majority members have endorsed GOP candidates (Douglas County GOP and State Representative).  Does this public campaigning in their positions as BoE members mean the GOP agenda regarding armed school personnel will be reflected in DCSD policy?   

Where are we today?

Since the school shooting in Uvalde, parents have been emailing the BoE with their concerns about arming teachers. 

In one response, Director Peterson replied, 

“Thank you for writing to express your concerns.  As a single Director, I intend to rely on the recommendations of our expert security personnel, including Jonny Grusing – the Director of Safety and Security and our other law enforcement experts in this area.”

Director Peterson also addressed safety concerns that have been expressed by the community at the June 7 BoE meeting (2:38:28).  He updated the community on a recent DCSD Safety and Security meeting (June 1).  As part of that update, Director Peterson also referenced that the district, including Jonny Grusing, have been in partnership with other metro school districts this year regarding their security issues and best practices.  He noted that Mr. Grusing has used that data to consider any applicable practices to DCSD.

This leaves some of us wondering what Jonny Grusing’s stance on arming school personnel is.  In the event Jonny Grusing does not agree in arming teachers, what will happen? Will we see a resignation or firing of Mr. Grusing?  Who does our BoE consider to be “other law enforcement experts?”  Does our BoE consider groups advocating for arming teachers as “experts,” such as FEC United, Able Shepherd, or FASTER Colorado? And if so, what actions will our BoE ultimately take if their recommendations are contradictory to recommendations made Mr. Grusing? These questions are important to ask. 

The concerns of DCSD parents regarding the arming of our teachers is real.  These fears are based on ideology promoted by supporters of our BoE majority and previously by Superintendent Kane. Parents have a right to be worried.