The STEM School Highlands Ranch had been warned five months before this week’s deadly shooting that a “perfect storm” was brewing for “a repeat of Columbine,” according to alarming reports.
A parent told CNN that she was so concerned about the “pressure cooker” of violence, sexual assault and bullying at the Colorado school, she called to complain to a county school board member in December.
School district official Daniel Winsor then wrote to STEM’s administration, specifically mentioning the parent’s fears of “a repeat of Columbine,” the 1999 massacre just 7 miles from STEM, according to the letter obtained by CNN.
“Many students are suicidal and violent in school,” Winsor wrote, terming the concerns “very serious” and calling for an urgent investigation, according to CNN.
The school’s executive director, Penelope Eucker, wrote to parents in February to deny the claims — even announcing a lawsuit against the unidentified parent for “defamatory statements,” according to reports. The lawsuit was filed in January and is still pending, according to Denver’s 9News.
“We want you to know the depth of this depravity and apologize if you find this as offensive as we did,” Eucker wrote to parents in the letter obtained by CNN.
Eucker released a statement this week saying school officials had reached out to parents to try to stand up to the alarming claims, with no responses.
“While STEM took the allegations seriously, our investigation revealed no evidence to support any of the allegations raised in the anonymous complaint,” the statement says, according to 9News.
The parent’s worst fears were realized as Kendrick Castillo, 18, was killed and eight others injured during Tuesday’s school shooting.
“When you don’t listen to parents’ concerns, when you don’t support teachers’ concerns, when you don’t give teachers the kind of training that they need or the support that they need … those are the elements that we need for the perfect storm, for something like a Columbine, or some kind of imminent threat to our children’s safety in the school, whether it be a bomb or an active shooter, or a suicide,” the parent told CNN.