Four years before a student shot and injured two administrators at East High and years before school safety was the No. 1 priority of parents, one Denver principal was raising the flag that something wasn’t right.

Before the 2019 school year had even started, Kimberly Grayson, the former principal of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Early College middle and high school, noticed students were already getting shot and killed in the community. It only got worse as the school year progressed.

People gathered outside a Denver Public Schools meeting, calling for the board to resign. Dozens also spoke out during public comment inside the meeting. Samantha Spitz has the latest.

Amid calls for more transparency and accountability, Denver Superintendent Alex Marrero promised that educators, students, and community members will have the chance to weigh in on two draft versions of a new safety plan before a final version is released on June 26.

Marrero detailed the timeline for the plan during a Monday board meeting — the same night a few dozen protesters outside called for board members to resign for failing to keep students safe. They cited the recent East High shootings and other incidents of violence.

Denver’s school board violated Colorado law when members met behind closed doors the day after the shooting inside East High School, a judge ruled Friday, ordering Denver Public Schools to publicly release the recording of the entire meeting within three days.

The Denver Post and five other Colorado news organizations sued the school district, alleging the Board of Education violated the Colorado Open Meetings Law when it met in an executive session — which was closed to the public — on March 23, one day after a student shot and injured two administrators inside East.

At a Denver school board work session a couple of weeks ago, staff presented some deeply troubling data showing how far behind elementary school students have fallen in both math and reading over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The numbers were jaw-dropping: 76 percent of students in grade 3-8 are below grade level in reading, according to, in edu-speak, interim assessments given in the fall. Some 60 percent of students in grades 3-8 were lagging in math.

Denver’s school board, which has drawn the ire of parent groups in recent months over directors’ infighting and the district’s handling of school safety, faces a potential shake-up when voters cast their ballots in November’s election.

Nine candidates — including incumbents Scott Baldermann and Charmaine Lindsay — are vying for three seats on Denver Public Schools’ Board of Education as parent groups push for a change in leadership.

DENVER (KDVR) — A new survey reveals interesting opinions about Denver and its schools, but the school board did not exactly get rave reviews.

Denver Families Action released survey findings that show how people feel about newly seated Mayor Mike Johnston, Denver Public Schools and the Board of Education. FOX31 had some questions about the survey and the group behind the survey, Denver Families Action.