Within hours of discovering McAuliffe International School Principal Kurt Dennis had been terminated, parents created an online petition demanding Denver Public Schools reinstate him and held a press conference at the school Friday.

As of noon Friday, the petition had 1,819 signatures.

Paul Ballenger didn’t want to tell his 14-year-old daughter, but in this day and age, she was likely to find out anyway.

She cried at the dinner table upon learning the principal of her former school had been fired.

“Parents are just so fed up,” Ballenger said.

Ballenger is running for the at-large seat held by Denver Public School Board of Education Vice President Auon’tai Anderson, who is not running for re-election.

Dennis’ attorney, David Lane, told The Denver Gazette Friday he expects to file a federal complaint in the coming weeks.

Grant Guyer, associate chief of Strategic Operations for DPS, notified Dennis of his termination in a July 3, 2023 letter, district documents show.

The firing, Lane said, stemmed from an interview Dennis gave the Gazette’s news partner 9News in March after two administrators at East High School were shot by a student who later committed suicide.

In that 9News interview, Dennis said that he had received pressure from the district to accommodate potentially dangerous students, citing an elementary school student Denver Police believed was involved in an attempted murder earlier this year.

Dennis requested the student — who required a daily pat down for weapons — attend online classes, which DPS denied, according to 9News.

“In retaliation for his free speech, they fired him,” Lane said.

Scott Pribble, a DPS spokesperson, disputed that account, saying Dennis’ termination was related to unspecified “leadership concerns.”

“The termination had little to do with any media interviews, but rather the sharing of confidential student information in violation of state and federal laws,” Pribble said in an email.

Pribble said the district conducted a review, adding “there were some leadership concerns at McAuliffe International.”

An internal district document, however, shows that the district had conducted an investigation into Dennis’ conduct following the 9News interview. The July 3, 2023 letter from Debra Watson in Human Resources, further states that Dennis attempted to remove a “student of color” from McAuliffe and contacted a Diversion Criminal Justice officer about this student, violating the district’s nondiscrimination policy.

In the wake of at least the second shooting at the district’s flagship school when two deans were shot on March 22, parents and safety advocates have called for DPS to revamp its discipline matrix, which is used to determine —for example — when a student is expelled.

Parents on Friday pointed to a leadership failure of DPS, saying the district has not successfully balanced the safety needs of 90,000 students with that of the educational rights of problematic students.

“Toxic leadership can’t handle strong leaders, so, they push them out,” said Jon Folkestad, a DPS parent who attended Friday’s media event.