Frequently Asked Questions about Resign DPS Board

Who can sign?

• We encourage anyone who lives in Denver to sign this petition.  You can be a student, parent, grandparent or appalled community member.
  

Will my name be made public?

• No, we will not release the names of anyone who has signed this petition.  We understand there are people who work in schools, for DPS or in adjacent organizations who fear retaliation if it becomes known that they signed this petition.  We take this seriously and pledge to keep this list private.

Will the public and the Board believe we have the number of signatures we claim?

• There are a couple of ways we can prove our numbers, if necessary.  We can redact names and release a list of addresses with partial redactions in the street numbers. Or we can invite one or two trusted journalists to view our database, with names hidden, under the understanding that they cannot take notes on any details.
  

Why isn’t this a recall? When would a recall begin?

• We hope that the Board will listen to the public demand and resign immediately.  It is their civic obligation. If they refuse, the other option is a recall process and/or an election process.  Three sitting members - Anderson, Baldermann and Lindsay - will be up for re-election this November. The other four - Olson, Quattlebaum, Esserman and Gaytan - are eligible for a recall process.
• Recall efforts, especially in city-wide contests, are expensive and a major volunteer effort.  Gathering 10,000 signatures of interested Denver citizens demanding resignation by May 15th is the most straight-forward approach to getting rid of this disgraceful Board AND testing the waters for how prevalent this disgust is across Denver. We believe people from all backgrounds, all neighborhoods are fed up with the dysfunction of this Board, and we intend to prove it.
• In the event we reach our goal but there is no movement to resign, a recall effort could commence. Legally, it would have to be a separate entity that is specifically allowed to petition for a recall.  Resign DPS Board is a 501(c)(4) non-profit that is allowed to promote issues of social welfare, such as highlighting the current crisis with the Denver Public School board and demanding the members resign.  A Recall effort does not fall into that category and would require a new entity designed for that purpose.  Our belief is that if we cannot gather 10,000 non-binding petition signatures for our Resign DPS Board effort within 45 days, then a recall effort would be very difficult to accomplish. 
  

Why focus on the entire Board?  Aren’t some of the Board Members decent?

• It’s true that each individual Board Member may have reasonable perspectives and outright good ideas.  But collectively they are the most dysfunctional, divisive, and frankly sad Board in recent history. (And that’s a high bar.) We don’t believe they can recover from the missteps, poor decisions and infighting to become a high impact team. There’s too much animosity, finger pointing and defensive posturing. It’s a little like that group of kids we all know (and often includes our own kids): individually they might be lovely but as a group they become trouble- and sometimes toxic. That’s where this Board is. We need to wipe the slate clean and establish a new baseline - one that can move forward in the interest of our kids.
  

Who is behind this effort?

• A group of parents came together following the March shooting at East High. Our Steering Committee consists of parents from different walks of life. We are not affiliated with any other education or community group in Denver.  None of us are being paid for this advocacy work.  We intend to shutter this organization once it has been as useful as possible. And none of us plan to run for a seat on the School Board, though we hope some really good people will!
  

Will this group endorse alternatives to current candidates?

• In its current form, this group will not officially endorse alternative candidates.  There are several groups in Denver that are working on identifying smart, stable people who would be willing to serve on the School Board.  It is our role to help put pressure on this current Board to move over and make room for a fresh start.