If you don’t know, our principal (Mr. Dennis) officially lost his job (In a 6-1 vote) because he spoke up for his students in an interview after the East High School shooting. We are taught in school to stand up for what’s right, which is exactly what Mr. Dennis did for us. After his firing people found out that there was a room (that many other DPS schools also have) where kids are kept to calm themselves down for 15 minutes. The school put 2 students into this room because they needed to calm down, but this was just two out of the 1,500 students in school, and randomly, the 2 kids in the room were students of color. Now Mr. Dennis is being called racist for things that he did that helped the school and its safety. There are many names for this room but it is where kids who are out of control, punching holes in the walls of their classrooms, and being disruptive go to calm down. There was a lock on the door for a few days although there’s not much shared information on that subject. The topic of Mr. Dennis speaking up about something that isn’t fair turned into a fight against racism. 

            Many Teachers want to speak up for Mr. Dennis but don’t want to get fired. So five kids including me went to speak at the School Board meeting, reading off of what a teacher wrote, the teacher staying anonymous. But right before we spoke they told us that you can’t read what others say. The 5 of us decided to still speak up for Mr. Dennis so we could make an effort to bring him back even though we had no idea what to say. We each spoke for a few minutes telling why Mr. Dennis should not have been fired. We spoke up for him, just like he did for us. 

Interview with Pediatrician, Dr. Matt Rustici

Me: “Why is the de-escalation room a good thing for Mcauliffe?”

Dr. Matt: “It allows kids who are out of control and cannot be safe a good space to calm themselves down.”

Me: “Do you agree with the use of the de-escalation room?”

Dr. Matt: “From what I know, yes.”

Me: “What are the other options if the room is not used?”

Dr. Matt: “To call the ambulance and call the police.”

Me: “Why was the lock put on the door of the de-escalation room?”

Dr. Matt: “To keep the kid from smashing their fingers, and it was added when the kid was trying to push open the door as a staff member tried to hold it shut.”

Me: “If these kids were just ignored what do you think would have happened?”

Dr. Matt: “They would have hurt somebody or themselves.”