LET’S TALK ABOUT IT…
Are Kids Safe at School?

Parents expect safe schools.

Safety words swirl around schools. Safe spaces, safe routes, safe partners, safe transactions, physical safety, emotional safety, safety measures, internet safety, playground safety, safe2tell, heart safe, safeguards, safe behavior, safe sites, safe and supported, safe and secure.

More than words, school safety is a $3 billion dollar industry and student safety is a legal responsibility of school boards through Colorado state law and local school district policies. 

So why does it feel like Colorado schools are not keeping the kids safe?

We are concerned about the safety of our local kids after hearing countless stories of abuse on school grounds across Colorado.

First, we had the horrific story of the special needs children abused on Poudre School District property by a district employee.  Parents had to watch videos of their innocent, defenseless children being punched, smacked, hit, and otherwise assaulted by the PSD employee charged with caring for them.  District leaders were alerted to the safety threat multiple times by both parents and transportation department employees, but the complaints appear to have been dismissed or blatantly ignored. The community questions whether mandatory reporting legal obligations were violated by the district.  Even after the abuse was publicly revealed, PSD leadership including Superintendent Brian Kingsley, Chief Communications Officer Madeline Novey, and Board of Education President Rob Petterson all promised the community a comprehensive third party investigation would be conducted.  It has been nearly a year, and the district has not presented a third-party review to the public.

Shockingly, just last month another paraprofessional—this one in Littleton Public Schools—was discovered abusing special needs children on a bus, just like in PSD.  Former LPS employee Kiarra Jones faces 11 legal counts including third-degree assault and child abuse.  Mirroring the PSD abuse, LPS parents shared their worries for their children’s safety with the district for months before the employee’s arrest.  The parents accuse the district of ignoring their concerns for their vulnerable kids’ safety. 

And now we have learned of yet another dreadful school safety issue.  This time in Thompson School District in Loveland, Colorado.

Multiple parents from Big Thompson Elementary School spoke at Wednesday’s TSD Board of Education meeting, detailing years of bullying, harassment, and both physical and sexual abuse inflicted on their children by their fellow elementary students.

TSD parents said their young children have been:

• Bitten

• Punched

• Lacerated

• Called vulgar names

• Pushed to the ground

• Had clothes forcibly removed

• Broken bones

Additionally, parents described sexual abuse issues with children as young as Kindergarten, with multiple young boys exposing their private parts to Kindergarten girls, and boys bullying girls on the playground, coercing the little girls into pull down their own pants and underwear.

All of the parents who spoke said they had reported incidents of abuse to TSD staff multiple times-all without any school official providing meaningful relief, changes, or consequences.

Incredibly, the parents sharing these horrific stories were persistently interrupted and silenced by the TSD Board of Education President Barbara Kruse, who seemed more interested in keeping the parents’ comments within the board allotted time frame than in genuinely listening to the painful stories the parents were sharing. 

The last parent who spoke concluded her story by saying, “The reason why the children at Big Thompson Elementary do not feel safe at school is because they're not.”

Former PSD administrator and current superintendent of LPS Todd Lambert and said that parents, “…should never have to worry about them (their children) being harmed when they are in our care.”  We think most people agree. Parents want to trust the school system.

Given the horrific way the most vulnerable children—autistic, non-verbal, early elementary aged—have been treated by public schools, we wonder if reasonable parents SHOULD be worried about placing their children in schools’ care.

View the parents’ stories using the YouTube link below beginning at the 1:03 mark. Then ask yourself if our community should expect kids to be safe at our local schools.

TRENDING CONVERSATIONS
What IS Best for Children’s Mental Health?

What do you think? Would children benefit from more independence, freedom and time outside? Or should schools continue spending millions of tax-payer dollars and precious educator energy on school counseling and the controversial social emotional learning instead?

IS THIS A GOOD IDEA?
Do Girls Deserve Protection?

Parents and protectors of children across Colorado are working together to put two measures in front of Colorado voters this fall. One initiative would ban biological boys from participating in girls’ sports in public schools. The second ballot measure would simply require public schools to tell parents if their child is experiencing “gender incongruence.”

Learn about the initiatives or volunteer to protect kids by visiting the link below.

WHY WAS I NEVER TOLD?
Psychotherapy for Everyone! Ages 12+

What would you think if your sixth-grader was in private conversations with a young adult social worker behind your back? And what if your child and that adult were discussing your child’s deepest emotional or social problems? Is it important for you to know and approve of the adults influencing your child’s life? Particularly when your child is at his or her most vulnerable moments?

Would you be surprised to know that Colorado law allows for exactly that? In our state, children ages 12 and above are allowed to receive “psychotherapy services” without approval or knowledge of their parents or legal guardians. “Psychotherapy services” are treatments and counseling associated with alleviating “behavioral and mental health disorders”, understanding “unconscious…motivation”, or adjusting behaviors that interfere with proper “social functioning.”

DINNER TABLE DISCUSSION
Do You Know Your Unalienable Rights?

The United States Declaration of Independence states, “…that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” The founders believed that natural rights are those which belong equally to each individual and that rights such as our right to life, the freedom to speak our minds, the freedom to worship God, are inherent to our human natures and are not granted to us by just governments.

What do you think? Does a just government have the right to violate natural rights of its citizens?  

BEFORE YOU GO:

• Learn about how the big business of transgender medicine runs directly through the Governor’s office in Illinois HERE.

• Yet another university cancels millions in funding for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs. Read about UNC Chapel Hill HERE.

• Even the New York Times is questioning the United States’ commitment to the unscientific and immoral practice of gender transitions for children. Read what they say HERE.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION:

☑️ WONDER about the propriety of a Colorado public Middle School encouraging students to participate in the LGBTQ+ themed “Day of Silence” HERE.

☑️ READ about the current state of American children’s mental health and how the mental health industry may actually be responsible in Bad Therapy: Why the Kids Aren’t Growing Up Find it HERE.

☑️ LEARN about PSD’s $9.7M partnership with Colorado State University’s School of Social Work and how CSU students are embedded with PSD students HERE.

☑️ ATTEND PSD’s newly scheduled ‘Special Meeting’ Monday, May 20th at 6:30pm, where the PSD Board of Education will discuss ending the controversial long-range planning process and will meet with unnamed ‘elected officials’. Meeting Agenda HERE.