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Parents and community members press PSD on student-search policies and missing equity data
Summary
During public comment, speakers urged the district to change student-search and law-enforcement interview practices to notify parents and demanded reinstatement of the district's equity dashboard; one commenter said internal access showed an 84% figure for a combined filter and another described a personal incident involving a child with autism.
Several community members used public comment at the April 14 Poudre School District board meeting to press for policy and transparency changes.
Cassandra Moore described an incident she said involved her child (who has documented disabilities) being pulled from class, questioned by a dean and a school resource officer and subjected to a physical search without parental notification. Moore said school staff did not notify her and that she only learned details after visiting the school in person. She asked the board to adopt policies that would require parental notification and a more collaborative approach for student searches and law-enforcement interviews; she cited neighboring districts that have written notification policies.
Danny Lawrence asked the board for reinstatement of an "Equity Insights Dashboard" he said was removed from public access. He said staff with internal access allowed him a single search on October 31 that he said showed 84% for a filter combining students with IEPs, law-enforcement referrals and Hispanic ethnicity; he requested that the dashboard be returned to public view so community members can assess equity information.
Board members acknowledged the comments and said the comprehensive planning committee is working on dashboard materials; some directors expressed frustration that the data had not been publicly available earlier and pledged to pursue transparency. No policy change or vote was taken at the meeting; the board encouraged continued dialogue and asked staff to bring more information back to committee.
The meeting included other public commenters who urged stronger shared decision-making for educators and asked the board to incorporate equity guardrails into any school consolidation criteria. The board heard the comments and indicated staff and committee follow-up would be appropriate.
