Rocky Mountain Voice

Menu

Tag: Student Safety

DPS Fires Teacher After Students Report Pressure To Participate In Same Sex Kissing Skits
No Comments
CBS Colorado, Approved, Local

DPS Fires Teacher After Students Report Pressure To Participate In Same Sex Kissing Skits

By: Logan Smith | CBS Colorado Denver Public Schools board members voted unanimously May 20 to dismiss a 50-year-old foreign language teacher following a district investigation and an independent review into student complaints about a class assignment. The board voted 7-0 after meeting in executive session to consider the firing of Jennifer Honka. Honka taught French Language and Culture at Northeast Early College for all of her eight years with the district. Officially, Honka was fired for incompetence and neglect of duty. There was no public debate among the board members prior to the vote. Honka's classroom instruction first came into question during the 2023-24 school year. She had received the highest possible rating in district assessments the prior three years. ...
Read More
Denver Schools Approve Full-Day Cell Phone Ban Beginning Next Year
No Comments
DENVER7, Approved, Local

Denver Schools Approve Full-Day Cell Phone Ban Beginning Next Year

By: Maggie Bryan | Denver7 Denver Public Schools adopted a new policy banning student use of cell phones and other personal communication devices during school hours. DENVER — Denver Public Schools will ban student cell phones and other communication devices for the entire school day starting next school year, after the DPS Board of Education voted unanimously to adopt the new policy Monday night. The ban covers the use of cell phones, smart or electronic watches, wireless earbuds, personal tablets, laptops, and any other personally owned portable electronic communication devices. The policy was drafted in response to a state law requiring school districts to implement a policy by July 1 concerning student device use during the school day. A DPS survey sent to...
Read More
Jeffco Parents Demand Answers After Hidden Safety Audit Flagged 153 Threats
No Comments
DENVER7, Approved, Local

Jeffco Parents Demand Answers After Hidden Safety Audit Flagged 153 Threats

By Maggie Bryan | Denver7 A safety audit completed a month before the Evergreen High School shooting flagged 153 threats in Jeffco schools, including a hit list with around 15 names. JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. — Jefferson County Public Schools parents are demanding answers after learning school district leaders received a third-party safety audit flagging 153 imminent threats — including a hit list with 15 names — a month before the shooting at Evergreen High School, but never released it to the public. The audit was conducted by student safety firm Gaggle, which was given access to the district's Google Workspace, including Google Drive and email accounts belonging to students, from February to April 2025. In the report, the company said it looked for questionable cont...
Read More
Colorado Safe2Tell system sees record growth: But outcomes stay hidden
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Colorado Safe2Tell system sees record growth: But outcomes stay hidden

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice February marked the first time this school year that monthly Safe2Tell totals outpaced the same period during the previous year. Three thousand and eight reports. Eighteen percent higher than January. And still, the question that the data doesn't answer: what actually happens once a report is filed? That gap, between the volume of concerns being submitted and the public record of what follows, sits at the center of a system that now handles tens of thousands of tips each year from Colorado students, parents, and community members. The Colorado Attorney General's Office released the February figures earlier this month, along with a press release citing interventions in student safety and welfare concerns.  Attor...
Read More
Colorado School Accused of Teaching Students to Track ICE Agents
No Comments
TownHall.com, Approved, Local

Colorado School Accused of Teaching Students to Track ICE Agents

By: Joseph Chalfant | Townhall A presentation was allegedly given at a Jefferson County, Colorado public school instructing students on how to document ICE agents conducting operations. The information included the often-used acronym “S.A.L.U.T.E.” to instruct their children on how to ensure full documentation of the activity of federal agents, essentially equipping them to work as “ICE watchers” like Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Children were told to gather information like number of officers, appearance, location, and the equipment of officers that students might observe. “Remember: document and record everything,” one slide of the presentation read. The presentation also “informed” students that “ICE leadership has given officers the go-ahead to violate the [...
Read More
Douglas County Middle School Teacher Arrested After Alleged Sexual Assualt
No Comments
kdvr.com, Approved, Local

Douglas County Middle School Teacher Arrested After Alleged Sexual Assualt

By: Brooke Williams | KDVR FOX31 DENVER (KDVR) — A teacher at Ranch View Middle School in Highlands Ranch was arrested on suspicion of multiple charges, including sexual assault on a child, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday. Detectives with the agency’s Special Victims Unit arrested Teresa Whalin, 28, of Centennial, on Nov. 10 on the following charges: Sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust, pattern of abuse Internet exploitation of a child Stalking Whalin was the gym teacher and was placed on administrative leave. The sheriff’s office said she has been employed by the Douglas County School District since July 2021. Affidavit: Relationship went on for over a year According to the arrest affidavit obtained by FOX31 on Wednesday,...
Read More
Safety, Discipline, and Learning at Heart of Denver School Board Races
No Comments
CBS Colorado, Approved, Local

Safety, Discipline, and Learning at Heart of Denver School Board Races

By Olivia Young | CBS Colorado Voters will elect four members of the Denver School Board next week. That will determine a majority on the seven member board and the future direction of the district, including the tenure of Superintendent Dr. Alex Marrero. DPS parents who are stressing the importance of casting ballots talked with CBS News Colorado. Chanele Simmons is a business owner and mom to three DPS students attending schools in far northeast Denver. She says her children's well-being is on her mind every day they're in classes. "That they're good and safe, that they're learning and that they're emotionally great," she said. Simmons would like to see the next Denver Board of Education focus on bringing down class size. She fears with the current class sizes are making i...
Read More
Durango’s School Board Debacle: Radical Rot, Predator Blind Spots, and a Herald Hug
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, Local, Top Stories

Durango’s School Board Debacle: Radical Rot, Predator Blind Spots, and a Herald Hug

By Heidi Ganahl | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Durango used to be the kind of place where families felt good about sending their kids to school. But things shifted over the years —and not in a good way. With a critical school board election just days away, parents are speaking out. And what they’re saying is hard to ignore. What I learned from the families who helped shape the Durango Dirty Dozen series was both heartbreaking and hopeful. They painted a clear picture of a district losing touch with its mission—and of a community ready to fight back.  They told me about confusing bathroom rules, lavish DEI spending, and a media outlet more interested in enabling coverups than accountability. Their message was clear: kids are being left behind. Let’s start with bathrooms...
Read More
Denver School Board Debates to Stream Live Oct. 7 Ahead of Crucial Election
No Comments
CBS Colorado, Approved, Local

Denver School Board Debates to Stream Live Oct. 7 Ahead of Crucial Election

By Anna Alejo | CBS Colorado Denver voters will decide the direction of Denver Public Schools as four of seven school board seats are up for grabs in the Nov. 4 election. A series of four school board debates will be livestreamed on the CBS Colorado YouTube channel on Oct. 7 at 7 p.m. CBS Colorado is working with Chalkbeat Colorado, Educate Denver, and Regis University to present the debates before in-person and online audiences. CBS News Colorado anchor Michelle Griego and Chalkbeat Colorado Bureau Chief Melanie Asmar will serve as co-moderators. They will develop the candidate questions and receive additional questions from the public, including from DPS students. The first debate will feature candidates in the At-Large race, to be decided by all of Den...
Read More
“This is too important to improvise”: D49 superintendent says sports lawsuit seeks clarity
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, Local, Top Stories

“This is too important to improvise”: D49 superintendent says sports lawsuit seeks clarity

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Superintendent Peter Hilts says protecting girls' athletic opportunity—and preventing boys from lifelong regret—is only part of the story. It's also about fixing incoherent policies and standing in the gap as adults. Colorado Springs’ School District 49 made headlines in May when it filed a federal lawsuit challenging the state’s anti-discrimination law and CHSAA’s transgender athlete policy. “We wanted to get in front of the coming legal conflict,” he explained in an interview with RMV. “We think this is too important to improvise.” The district’s enacted policy separates sports, locker rooms and team travel by biological sex—a direct clash with the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA) and Colorado High School Activities Association (C...
Read More

FD863768-0ACF-495E-9D21-2EF784DFFA6B[1]

Join us at RMV's Freedom Festival

Click Here for Tickets!

This will close in 0 seconds