Widefield School District 3 students are continuing to call for the removal of members on the district’s board of education.

A group of Mesa Ridge High School students, parents and faculty members staged a protest outside the school Wednesday, calling for the resignation of District 3 board members David Dock, Greg Fisher and Tina West.

It is the latest call for resignations following alleged comments by Dock, Fisher and West overheard at an IHOP restaurant in November that were derogatory toward special needs students in the district and LGBTQ+ students among other topics.

Outside Mesa Ridge, about 30 students gathered with signs reading phrases like “we are skipping our lessons to teach you one” and “honk for disability rights.” The demonstration was monitored by school staff to ensure student safety.

A similar walkout occurred at the school last month, while students and community members have voiced their concerns to the board at subsequent board meetings.

The demonstration was planned shortly after a Q&A session with Fisher, Dock and students at the high school earlier this month.

“The words that were said before were really insensitive,” said Mesa Ridge student Dean Pucci, who helped organize the walkout. “But mainly what prompted this walkout was what was said during the Q&A.”

During the Q&A, students asked the board members questions pertaining to LGBTQ+ student needs, banning books, special education and services to special needs students in the district.

In an audio recording obtained by The Gazette, Dock told the students he had recently visited Pinello Elementary School to learn more about the school and district’s current services for significant support needs (SSN) students.

Dock also said that he had suggested that all SSN classrooms in the district be moved to a single location “where the real professionals can deal with them” — before learning they’re required to integrate them into the schools.

“(I) found out that’s a federal law,” Dock said. “I didn’t know that at the time.”

One student who asked to remain anonymous said that they and others thought the Q&A session was an attempt by board members to save face that ultimately had the opposite effect.

“If anything, it basically confirmed what we already knew,” the student said.

Elizabeth Ward, who attended the protest, is the parent of a special needs and LGBTQ+ student in the district. Ward said she believed that many voters during the last election were unaware of the candidates’ stances on multiple issues at the time.

She said the recent actions have brought more community awareness to both of these areas.

“A lot of people have said ‘we don’t understand trans people.’ Well, you don’t need to understand someone to support them,” she said. “(Or) to make sure that they have access to the services they need or that they’re treated like everyone else.”

District 3 Communications Director Samantha Briggs said in an email to The Gazette that the district was made aware of a social media post announcing the planned walkouts Wednesday morning.

“We always support peaceful actions to stand up for what you believe in, as they are great ways to learn. At the same time, schoolwork is important too,” she wrote. “We do not condone missing instructional time, but we understand that being active in the community can help you become a good citizen.”

Neither Fisher nor Dock could be reached for comment by the time of publishing of this story.

During the January regular board meeting, where multiple community members attended in response to the alleged comments, board president Fisher read from a statement that it was, “not in the best interest of the board to refute or argue the statements made” and that the board collectively apologized for “the negative interpretation of our conversation felt by the students.”

On Wednesday, students eventually dispersed and returned to class upon the insistence of school faculty and received tardy notices after about two hours.

Ward said that they will continue to advocate for the board members’ resignation and that efforts may include students intentionally failing their upcoming CMAS tests and local voters petitioning for a recall election.

Multiple students said they plan to hold more protests.

“Most definitely,” Pucci said. “The one thing that I want to make sure, even if it’s not me organizing the protests, is that my community doesn’t forget that this happened.”