District 20 closes 2 schools Tuesday after discovering plans of “large-scale” protest

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Two Academy District 20 schools will not have school Tuesday after the district discovered plans for a large-scale protest in front of the schools.

According to district officials, the Colorado Springs Police Department received a call inquiring about a "permit to conduct a peaceful protest at Chinook Trail Middle School tomorrow with approximately 1,600 protestors."

After being alerted by police of the situation, D20 decided to move students at Chinook Trail Middle School to remote learning and cancel school for Chinook Trail Elementary, which is next to the middle school.

D20 told KRDO the decision was made "from an abundance of caution" and to "minimize the potential learning disruption."

"This is not what we want for our students, especially coming out of a year of COVID. We want them in the classroom, we want them to have a learning environment that looks and feels normal and this is not what we want. It’s incredibly disruptive and we want them back to an environment where they feel safe and normal and this isn’t what we want," said Allison Cortez with Academy District 20.

The district still doesn't know who put in the request to hold the protest, but at 12:00 p.m. on Tuesday, they hadn't shown up.

Parents and students from D20 did stand outside the school to show their support for the district and its mask policies.

"I feel like students, teachers, and staff have been through enough the last 18 plus months. The whole goal is to keep kids in school and that is not accomplishing this goal, so I was very disheartened," said Laura Matisek, a D20 parent.

At this time, the district expects to resume in-person learning on Wednesday.

Chinook Trail Middle School became the center of a district investigation after pictures of a sixth-grader with a mask taped to their face began circulating social media.

Friday, D20 announced interviews from that investigation were completed and officials were analyzing all statements.