A coalition of news organizations has asked a judge to hold Denver’s school board in contempt for failing to meet the court’s deadline to release its recording of a closed-door meeting that members held in March following the shooting inside East High School.
Denver District Court Judge Andrew Luxen last month gave the Board of Education until noon Tuesday to release the recording or obtain a stay from the Colorado Court of Appeals. A stay would put the recording’s release on hold while Denver Public Schools appeals the judge’s previous ruling that found members violated state law when they met in an executive session on March 23.
The Court of Appeals had not placed a hold on the Luxen’s order by noon Tuesday, meaning it remained “in full force and effect,” attorney Steve Zansberg, who is representing The Denver Post and the other news organizations, wrote in a motion seeking a contempt ruling.
The school board did not release the recording as of 12:01 p.m. Tuesday, so they “are in violation” of the court’s order, according to the motion filed in Denver District Court.
“The district filed our appeal with the Court of Appeals by the stated deadline,” DPS spokesman Bill Good in a statement Wednesday. “Since filing our appeal yesterday, the Court of Appeals has issued a temporary stay in this matter.”
The media organizations sued the school board after the members met in an executive session — which was closed to the public — on March 23, alleging the board violated Colorado law by making policy decisions behind closed doors and not properly declaring an executive session.
The Colorado Open Meetings Law states that “the formation of public policy is public business and may not be conducted in secret,” according to the lawsuit.
The meeting came a day after a student shot and injured two administrators inside East. Members met privately for five hours and when they emerged, they voted unanimously — and without any debate — to approve a memo that temporarily suspended a 2020 policy banning armed police in schools.
The board has since fully reversed that policy, allowing school resource officers, or SROs, to return more permanently to campuses.
The news organizations that filed the lawsuit include The Post, Chalkbeat Colorado, Colorado Newsline, KDVR Fox 31, KUSA 9News and the Denver Gazette/Colorado Politics.
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