Denver Public Schools recently appointed a new DPS Board Director for Northeast Denver, taking the spot vacated by Landri Taylor. The transition appeared smooth until the Denver Post broke a story that shocked the Northeast Denver Community. Apparently, during the application process, the new director inadvertently checked the “no” box on the application question, “have you ever having been convicted of a felony or Class A misdemeanor.” The new director had in fact plead guilty to a Class 3 misdemeanor negligent child abuse charge with no injuries, and was sentenced to 15 days in jail and a year of supervised probation.
Stapleton residents are already up in arms about the situation. “This is unbelievable,” exclaimed resident Nick Mercurio. “I totally understand the child abuse thing. That happens, and frankly, could be an explainable situation. But, can we trust someone to be our director when they are so incompetent they check the wrong box?” Resident Taunee Knight shares her frustration with the community. “It’s not rocket science,” says Knight. “It’s checking boxes. A lot of what schools rely on and how students are tested is by checking boxes. If you are our director, how can we trust you will pass on the importance of checking the right boxes if you can’t do it yourself. Shame on you, Director. Shame, shame, shame.”
In a statement issued from an attorney of the new director, the issue is passed off as more of a misunderstanding than an error. “My client understands the difference between ‘yes’ and ‘no,’” said attorney Dave Streff. “Furthermore, when asked to check ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ my client has a 95% accuracy rate. On this particular occasion, it wasn’t so much an error, as it was confusion.” The statement goes on to say that the new director simply forgot that they had in fact plead guilty to a class 3 misdemeanor and had spent 15 days in jail. “Almost everyone has had to spend some time in the clink,” said Streff. “And like many of us, she completely forgot about this time of her life. This is very understandable, especially when you consider those events took place 10 years ago.” The camp of the new director is urging people to be patient while new information comes to light, and to please, “think outside of the box.”
Editorial Update: The Board Member decided to step down, and not take the position. Furthermore, The Stapletonion has learned that not only did they fail to check the correct box on the application regarding a criminal record, the individual also falsified their education, saying they had graduated from Denver University, but had actually only attended school there, never earning a degree. I can understand, if not condone, not admitting to a criminal past, but lying about your education is completely unacceptable. Finally, the former Board Member did come forward with details of the criminal activity. They had left a 7, 6, and 2 year old at home while they went to work for over eight hours. I understand there are many challenges in being a young, single parent with three kids. In fact, I would completely forgive the situation if it was just leaving the seven and six year olds at home. But, as a parent, you cannot put a seven and six year old in a position of responsibility over a two year old.]]>