Scores of students walked out of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. High Early College in northeast Denver Tuesday morning in protest over Denver Public Schools’ policies that allow students in trouble with the law to attend classes in person.

The students left class at 11 a.m. and walked to Evie Garrett Dennis Campus, which is roughly 1.5 miles away from DMLK, during the #DPS “Do Better” Walkout.

Students organized the protest after a male student last week was allegedly assaulted by two other students, at least one of whom had just been re-admitted to the school after spending time at Gilliam Youth Services Center, according to several sources including the victim’s family.

The 17-year-old boy who was assaulted suffered a concussion, his family confirmed.

“I feel safe in my school,” said Journey Horton, 16, a junior. “I know that not everybody can say that and that’s a problem.”

But Horton also acknowledged that the victim likely felt safe before the attack.

Superintendent Alex Marrero declined comment.

Officials, however, released a statement through Scott Pribble, a district spokesperson, which said in part that Denver Public Schools is committed to a safe environment.

“While it is hard to hear that some of our students don’t feel safe, it is vital that we honor their voices, and learn more about their concerns,” the district statement said.

Students carrying home-made signs that said “We demand safety” and “My voice matters” were flanked by Denver police flashing emergency lights on patrol cars.

About a dozen honking student vehicles followed the marchers.

“What do we want?” Marlene Lara Tapia, a 16-year-old junior, shouted into a bull horn.

“Safety!” the crowd responded.

“When do we want it?”

“Now!”

Tuesday’s march marks at least the third student-led protest over campus violence this calendar year.

“They don’t feel safe,” said Kimberly Grayson, a former DMLK principal who works in violence and prevention services at University of Colorado Boulder.

Over the past year, Grayson said she has received about dozen calls — a handful since school started in August — from students concerned about their safety at DMLK.

Campus safety has become an increasing concern with students at East High School having left class earlier this year to press legislators to listen to growing fears over attending school.

In response to a student having allegedly shot two administrators at East in March, the board of education reversed its 2020 ban on armed campus police.

Educators — including Grayson — have criticized district policies that have tied their hands.

“I understand that kids can have a bad day,” Grayson said, echoing a district talking point. “Sometimes bad days end with taking a kid’s life.”

Safety advocates blamed the district’s discipline matrix, which is used to address problematic behavior, dictating when Denver Police are called and when students should be referred for expulsion.

The expressed goal of the discipline matrix adopted in 2021 was to dismantle what activists call “the school-to-prison pipeline,” defined as the disproportionate tendency of minors from disadvantaged backgrounds to become incarcerated over “harsh” school policies.

Members of the Parent Safety Advocacy Group have criticized the discipline matrix for using exclusionary discipline as a “last resort” — even for students who have carried weapons to campus, as police have accused Austin Lyle, who allegedly shot two deans at East before killing himself.

The tension for the district is the balance between its commitment to educate all students — irrespective of past disciplinary infractions — with the safety of everyone on campus.

Students Tuesday said they were on edge after multiple, violent incidents, including the junior who was attacked after school last week.

Anika Smith, a 16-year-old Junior at DMLK, said only one district security officer responded to the fight, which occurred about 10 minutes after the end of school Wednesday.

It’s unclear why the school resource officer, which is an armed police officer also called an SRO, did not respond to the fight.

Doug Schepman, a police spokesperson, declined for security reasons to discuss SRO schedules, but said the officer assigned to MLK requested the deployment of additional police for the following school day.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. High Early College is among the high schools with a dedicated police officer.

Schepman said officers were investigating the incident, but declined to elaborate because the altercation involved minors.

When Jeanette Lara heard the walkie-talkie squawk in response to a fight on campus last Wednesday, she didn’t know she was rushing to aid her son.

Lara, a single parent who works in the nurse’s office at DLKM, was among the first responders.

“When I saw him on the floor, I ran after the guys,” Lara said.

Lara has requested The Denver Gazette not reveal his name out of concern for his continued safety.

Having suffered a concussion at the hands of a troubled student who wears an ankle monitor, family members said they were concerned by the district’s lackluster response.

“It’s not the first time something like this has happened,” said Cynthia Lara, the victim’s aunt. “Nothing changes.”

The family has hired Matthew Barringer, the attorney representing the family of Luis Garcia — the 16-year-old shot and killed in the parking lot at East High School in February.

“This is another example of how the discipline matrix does not protect children, or by extension, staff,” Barringer said.

Barringer added: “The problem is, under the discipline matrix, there is nothing that the principal and the deans can do. And it’s these policies that lead to this behavior.

“There are no consequences.”

In addition to the ankle monitor, Barringer said the accused attacker is required to carry a clear backpack at school, indicating — like Lyle — that he is on a safety plan, a tool administrators use to address behavioral concerns.

Citing Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA, which protects the privacy of education records for students 17 and younger, Pribble declined to confirm the name of the accused attacker.

For Horton, who joined the dozens of DMLK students who walked out of class Tuesday, she said the attacker — who family members said misidentified his target — should have been expelled.

“There’s not enough done,” Horton said.

Then the teen added: “I hope this sends that we have each other, if you’re not going to have us, we have each other.”