COLORADO SPRINGS — On Monday, Academy School District 20 announced that Chinook Trail Middle School would move to remote learning due to a "large-scale protest" that is potentially happening on Tuesday.
Tuesday morning arrived and the protesters did not.
The district said that the Colorado Springs Police Department's Special Event Coordinator received a call about a permit to "conduct a peaceful protest at Chinook Trail Middle School tomorrow with approximately 1,600 protestors.”
News5 was on the scene, and the crowd numbered around 10, all of whom came out to show support for the school's teachers. Their signs read "stop the hate," "we love our teachers", "we support CTMS," among other slogans.
The district moved the students to online learning for Tuesday so the expected protest would not disrupt their learning. They also decided to cancel the school day at Chinook Trail Elementary School since it's right next door to the middle school. They said they had to cancel the day because their "elementary schools can’t move to remote learning as seamlessly" as the upper schools.
Both schools are planning to return to in-person learning by Wednesday.
This comes as the district is conducting an investigation at Chinook Trail Middle School over allegations of teachers taping face masks to students' faces.
According to the district's statement, the first allegation was brought by a student on Friday, October 15. Then, over that weekend more allegations were posted on social media.
The district said they wrapped up more than 100 interviews on Friday, October 22, and are now analyzing statements. The district says they can't estimate when the investigation will be complete.
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