Parker Chronicle 0710

Page 1

July 10, 2020

FREE

DOUGLAS COUNTY, COLORADO

A publication of

ParkerChronicle.net

INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 12 | LIFE: PAGE 14 | SPORTS: PAGE 16

VOLUME 18 | ISSUE 34

Sit-in at Town Hall supports Black Lives Demonstrators listened, participated in discussion about race BY NICK PUCKETT NPUCKETT@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

The assistant principal grew so distraught about managing the matter internally that she believed she was experiencing secondary trauma, according to interviews and statements from school staff cited in the incident reports. The reports do not say that any adults were involved in sexual contact with children at the school. School district employees named in the investigative reports did not respond to several requests for comment. A Douglas County School District spokesperson provided a statement regarding the investigation on June 26 and asked Colorado Community Media to stop trying to contact the school employees directly about the matter.

Dozens gathered at Parker Town Hall July 3 for a protest in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. The demonstration, a sit-in and discussion about race, was at least the fourth organized demonstration in support of Black Lives Matter in Parker. Demonstrators listened to speakers who led a discussion about what it’s like to be Black in America and how to resolve the divide the country currently faces. Participants of the July 3 protest reported that counter-protesters representing the “All Lives Matter” movement appeared at Town Hall. Though some verbal exchanges between the groups took place, no physical altercation occurred, according to witnesses. The next day, three Lone Tree teens spent their Independence Day protesting, also in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, saying they hoped to make the point that July 4 does not mark a day of freedom for millions of Americans. “Independence Day isn’t independent for all; 1776 wasn’t the start of

SEE SCHOOL, P4

SEE SIT-IN, P24

SHUTTERSTOCK IMAGE

‘I don’t feel safe’: A school’s nightmare How educators responded to alleged sexual contact by first-graders BY JESSICA GIBBS JGIBBS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

A principal has left the Douglas County School District for another job in education, months after his school became embroiled in a “failure to report” investigation into alleged “sexual contact” by first-grade children at the school. Witness accounts detailed in Douglas County Sheriff ’s Office incident reports obtained by Colorado Community Media from officials alleged that young students at Sand Creek Elementary School in Highlands

Ranch persuaded and pressured other young students into inappropriate touching and exposing private body parts. Children involved in the alleged incidents were as young as age 6, the reports said. The incidents are believed to have begun in October and continued into February before school staff became aware, according to the incident reports. The case exposed confusion regarding mandatory reporting among school employees, particularly at the administrative level. The school’s assistant principal alleged she repeatedly asked her principal if they should involve law enforcement, while the principal maintained they could handle the situation administratively and directed her to oversee the school’s response, according to the incident reports.

MILLIONS IN SCHOOL CUTS But district officials are trying to steer reductions away from classrooms

P9

GET WILD AND WOOLLY

COVID-19 is still around, but there’s no need to shy away from safe summer activities for the whole family P14


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