These are my personal ideas for how DPS61 transparency can be ensured and improved, both in regard to Dennis Lab's Structural Issues and the District as a whole. These ideas have not been vetted and may or may not be viable.
If you would like to advocate for or against any of these ideas, see my full report on Dennis and scroll to the 'Get Involved' section.
Answers about Dennis Buildings
- Submit unanswered questions to the District. First, check the FAQ
Outstanding Questions
- Why didn't the District disclose concerns to the public prior to the Structural Investigation on May 30th?
- Who made the decision not to publicly disclose concerns prior to May 31st?
- Why didn't the District act after August 23rd, 2022, when a Dennis parent publicly commented that the stairs were separating from the wall?
- Why wasn't an inspection scheduled before the end of the school year? The official District answer is that schedules did not align between BFW and DPS61. My report suggests this is not an honest, complete, and forthcoming answer.
- Why did Denise Swarthout initially tell WCIA Journalist Scarlett O'Hara "We requested the analysis from a structural engineer this spring, but yesterday was the first availability on his schedule to come out and do the analysis."
- Why has the District avoided answering media questions and taking interviews?
- Klingner detailed past repairs to both buildings. When were each of those repairs completed?
- Were gas leaks at Dennis addressed? Past public commenters mentioned gas leaks in the boiler room
- Why didn't the District hold a community forum before presenting a recommendation to The Board?
I have additional questions that are more specific, and some which are of less importance or have since been answered.
Release of Documents - Dennis Buildings
The following documents should be released publicly
- 2023 annual non-structural HLS Survey completed by Regional Superintendent's Office
- Documents related to repairs and work completed after the 2013 10-year HLS Survey and the 2023 annual survey.
- FOIA Requests / Responses related to this story
- All purchase orders, bids, requests for bids, and contracts related Dennis Buildings.
- Meeting agendas / minutes / recordings for all faculty and administration meetings related to Dennis Buildings.
- The list referenced by Board Member Al Scheider: "Kent [Metzger] had, twice this year has gone through a full list of all the schools and what they were doing."
- All documents related to repairs that were detailed in the Klingner inspection.
Investigations - Board Action
- Hire an outside firm to investigate the history of this situation and determine if the District was neglectful in its handling of the two Dennis Buildings. Full investigation should be released publicly upon completion.
- Write-up a disciplinary record of any wrongdoing discovered during investigations, naming DPS staff (and/or board members) who failed to act appropriately.
- Investigate and write-up a public record of BFW's performance in regard to the scheduling of the inspection & whether there was any misconduct on BFW's part.
Permanent Policy - Documents, Committee, Media Accesss
These are policy proposals that would be permanent.
- Form an accountability committee comprised of teachers and parents from multiple schools, who have full access to District information.
- Require immediate public disclosure of contract proposals received by the District, or at least immediate release after a bid is accepted.
- Require immediate public disclosure of safety concerns, particularly if a bid or inspection is sought.
- Require constant public release of all purchase orders.
- Require constant public release of all FOIA Requests and Responses. Currently, all requests are available monthly, but responses are not.
- Pass a policy allowing media personnel full access to District information, though require FOIA Review of documents and communications before such information can be reported on or released publicly.