Kurt Dennis, the former principal of McAuliffe International School, sued Denver Public Schools on Tuesday, alleging the district retaliated against him for speaking publicly about safety policies following the March shooting at East High School.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Denver, alleges DPS, Superintendent Alex Marrero and six members of the school board violated Dennis’s First Amendment right to free speech by firing the former principal after he spoke in a televised news interview about the district’s policy requiring educators to check students for weapons.

“What has happened to Kurt Dennis here is tremendously unjust,” said attorney David Lane, who is representing Dennis. “DPS has concocted excuse after excuse for firing the guy and now they will get to explain to a federal judge and jury why they are punishing Kurt Dennis for exercising his right to free speech.”

Scott Pribble, a DPS spokesman, said in a statement that district officials could not comment on the specifics of the lawsuit before they’ve had a chance to review the allegations with legal counsel.

“The allegations made in any complaint are not facts,” he said. “We believe the preponderance of the evidence, some of which has already been released, will support our case and we look forward to responding fully in court.”

Dennis’s interview with 9News followed the shooting at East in which a teen undergoing such a search shot and wounded two administrators — and it came as parents, educators and others in the community were criticizing DPS’s discipline policies and response to school safety.

Dennis said during the interview that McAuliffe administrators had to search a student charged with attempted first-degree murder for weapons after DPS officials denied his requests for the pupil to take online classes or be expelled.

DPS changed its policy regarding searches last month and will no longer have school leaders check students for weapons. Instead, that task only will be performed by the district’s armed patrol officers.

Dennis’s termination in July drew further outcry from parents, who called on the district to reinstate him. 

But district officials have said the former principal shared confidential student information during his news interview and the school board voted last month to approve his termination.

Only one board member — Scott Baldermann — voted against the termination. Baldermann is also the only board member not named in the lawsuit.

“I believe that people have the right to speak to the news media as long as they don’t violate student (privacy law),” DPS board Vice President Auon’tai Anderson said Tuesday.

A month after DPS fired Dennis, the school board announced the district was investigating the use of a seclusion room at McAuliffe International School, including whether students of color were placed in the room. The investigation found that employees at the school, including Dennis, violated district policy by placing students in two rooms without proper supervision and either locking or holding the doors shut while doing so. 

While the investigation began after Dennis was fired, the educator received an updated termination letter on Aug. 28 that included the allegations that he violated district policy when using the rooms at McAuliffe, according to the lawsuit.

DPS officials and board members harmed Dennis’s reputation by accusing him of racism and white supremacy without giving him “a meaningful opportunity to clear his name or present evidence in his defense” — a violation of his Fourteenth Amendment right to due process, the lawsuit alleges.

“DPS is using pretextual reasons to attempt to bury the fact that the actual termination was in retaliation for Mr. Dennis talking to the media about the extremely dangerous policy of allowing students charged with violent crimes to attend school and be patted down by untrained administrators and to prevent him from making further public statements while in his position as a school principal,” the lawsuit states.

The allegations regarding the room at McAuliffe, which Dennis has called a de-escalation room, have prevented him from finding work in other school districts, according to the lawsuit. 

“He wants his name cleared,” Lane said. “He wants DPS to have been proven to have violated his constitutional rights.”

Anderson said he hopes the lawsuit will make the district’s full investigation report into the seclusion rooms public. (So far, only a letter summarizing the investigation’s findings has been released.)

The Denver Police Department and the Colorado Department of Education also are investigating the use of the seclusion room at McAuliffe.

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