Rocky Mountain Academy of Evergreen parents protest charter school after six faculty members fired

EVERGREEN, Colo. – Parents of students at Rocky Mountain Academy of Evergreen protested Wednesday morning, after six faculty members were fired Tuesday.

Viewers told Denver7 the six terminated employees were a 7th and 8th-grade science teacher, a 7th and 8th-grade math teacher, an elementary school dean, a 7th and 8th-grade social studies teacher, a middle school dean and a middle school music teacher.

The reason behind the terminations has not been officially released, but parents said it had to do with “conflicts” between the faculty members and Executive Director Dr. Roberta Harrell.

Protest organizer and RMAE parent Lee Dorkin described Tuesday's termination scene, "There was an environment of hostility, there was an environment of sadness, and there was an environment of shock."

The terminations come roughly one week after all but one member of the school’s Board of Directors resigned from their positions.

John Lamas has four children at RMAE. He said it isn't a problem with the teachers, it's a problem with administrators. "That current administrator has a very hard time collaborating," Lamas said.

Parents told Denver7 the terminations were made without a proper plan in place and without their children in mind. Many chose to keep their children from school on Wednesday.

On Wednesday afternoon, Jefferson County Public Schools spokeswoman Diana M. Wilson sent the following statement to Denver7: 

“We are aware some Rocky Mountain Academy of Evergreen (RMAE) families are very upset.  Our main concern is taking care of our students. We value our relationships with our charter schools and are committed to having the best schools possible. We are offering support to help RMAE work through their issues, but we also have to respect that charter schools are largely under local control,” said Jeffco Public Schools Superintendent Dan McMinimee."

Denver7 has reached out to Dr. Harrell for comment but has not received a response as of the time of the publishing of this article.