Student and parent groups pushing Denver schools to hire ‘counselors, not cops’

Chalkbeat: Against a backdrop of rising youth suicide rates and disproportionately harsh discipline for black and Latino students, Denver teenagers and parents are calling for more mental health workers — and fewer police officers and security guards — in the city’s schools.

Over the past few months, the Denver Public Schools superintendent and school board heard from a 16-year-old high school junior who said he has attempted to take his own life 11 times. His school, he said, “had no resources to help me.”

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