Wounded East High Dean’s First Public Statement Builds on School Safety Conversation

On May 8, Kwame Spearman — who had officially announced his candidacy for the Denver Public Schools Board of Education just hours earlier — stood back and watched as East High School dean Wayne Mason talked in public for the first time since he was shot by a student six weeks earlier.

Auon’tai Anderson, who holds the at-large seat Spearman is after, listened from the other side of the crowd, donning a full suit and aviator sunglasses.

The gathering was part of a weekly series of get-togethers coordinated by the Parents – Safety Advocacy Group, which formed immediately after Mason and another dean, Eric Sinclair, were shot by seventeen-year-old Austin Lyle on March 22. The Monday meetings are a response to ongoing community concerns surrounding students and staff safety at both…