East High School to Welcome Students Back After Shooting Incident, Parents Say 'Safety is Not Negotiable for Our Kids'

Group of parents gathered outside East High School, protesting against the school district's non-transparency of back to school safety measures and procedures now that the school is reopening its doors after the shooting incident.

Parents protested Monday demanding for more transparency from school district leaders on how they plan to keep the students safe as they come back to school from spring break on Wednesday, Denver 7 reported.

"In two days our kids are coming back. What is going to be different? If some people don't have a sense of urgency, we do, because we're the ones who will miss them at night when they cannot come home. This is not acceptable. Safety is not negotiable for our kids," 9th grader parents Astrid Ruiz declared.

Students fear to go back to school

Ruiz is just one of the dozens of concerned parents at East High School who wants to know the specific plans of the school going forward aside from the return of some school resource officers (SROs). The growing coalition of parents, which is referred to as the Parent Safety Advocacy Group (PSAG), wants urgent answers before the school bell rings at 8:05 in the morning Wednesday.

Another parent, Sri Viswanath revealed that the school administration has not told them anything about the school's safety improvements and updates. They were not even assured that Denver Public Schools and the East High School are now safer. No comprehensive safety plan of any kind was also presented.

"Our children are still afraid to go to school," Viswanath emphasized.

A day after a 17-year-old student Austin Lyle shot two school administrators, "a secretive five-hour executive session" was held, per CBS News.

The Denver Public School Board of Education put an end to a controversial policy that terminated SROs from all Denver high schools in 2020. Aside from this, district superintendent Dr. Alex Marrero was instructed to craft a long-term safety plan before summer ends.

The said plan would need community feedback from students, families, school leaders and lawmakers before it is going to be reviewed and voted on by the Board. If the plan gets to be approved, it will take effect prior to the start of the school year 2023 to 2023.

Both East High School students and their parents demand for the changes now.

Parents further stated that the district has not made any effort to get their inputs on how the school can be made safer for their kids.

"They had an ongoing process of under-informing us and shoving things under the rug. There's no more room under the rug," Steve Katsaros, another parent, stressed.

Read More: Oxford School Shooting: Suspect Showed Red Flags and Disturbing Texts to Parents Before Incident

Students Continue To Feel Unsafe

It is not only the parents that are demanding transparency though. The students, who are the "most impacted group" want to be aware of what the school district is doing to keep their anxieties away about when the next school shooting will happen.

"It feels like we're not getting a lot of... prevention? I want to know that there are measures in place to guarantee that someone can't walk into school with a gun," junior student Tessa Klopper expressed.

As a parent, Katsaros would want to personally see " a secure perimeter around the school, spot checks of student lockers, and K-9 dogs that could check for drugs and gun powder," aside from metal detectors.

According to Chalkbeat Colorado, DPS spokesperson Rae Childress released a statement saying that they have placed on campus an additional district safety officer aside from the SROs. They are also working to expand the access to mental health providers to staff and students via telehealth. However, no other updated safety measures were provided.

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