A former Arapahoe High School security guard on Monday released audio of secretly recorded meetings that her attorney said proves she was a victim of retaliation.
Attorney Dan Recht said his client, Christina Kolk, was pressured to refute statements made by Cameron Rust, another former security guard. Rust said in January the school ignored warning signs and discouraged staff from documenting concerns in the months before a December 2013 fatal shooting at the campus.
“She has withstood the pressure,” Recht said. “In our view, as a direct result she was and still is suspended with pay. Her status is in limbo, and it seems completely unfair that she should be disciplined for exercising her First Amendment rights.”
In the recordings, which are edited in certain parts, administrators are heard telling Kolk that she was “labeled” because she did not refute Rust’s Facebook post criticizing the school. The school principal also says in the recording it is troubling that Kolk agrees with many of the comments made by Rust.
Officials with Littleton Public Schools could not be reached for comment on Monday.
On Dec. 13, student Karl Pierson entered Arapahoe through a propped-open door and fatally shot senior Claire Davis. He then killed himself in the school library.
Kolk accused administrators of covering up failures that she said could have prevented the fatal shooting nearly a year ago. She said school officials did nothing when she and Rust reported that Pierson was looking at guns on his computer.
The former security guard released about eight documents to the media on Monday.
Some of the documents matched those reported by The Denver Post last week, which showed that Arapahoe administrators deemed Pierson a low-level risk despite a pattern of angry outbursts that showed a “significant history” of violent behavior, according to a threat assessment.
Kolk provided school discipline documents for other students that she said proved the campus was incorrectly classifying violent incidents to paint a rosier picture of school safety.
Another was an e-mail that Kolk said she planned to send to the media that raised concerns about safety. In the e-mail, Kolk wrote, “also hearing that students who threaten staff lives are looking at guns yet when that is brought up to administration there is nothing they can do about it?”
Kolk said she told campus staff about her concerns but did not approach district officials about her frustrations until May.
Recht said he was guiding Kolk pro bono as she released documents to the media. He said he is not currently representing her in any case against the school district.
Zahira Torres: 303-954-1244, ztorres@denverpost.com or twitter.com/zahiratorres