Monday, November 21, 2022
Dear District Administrators,
Today, Dr. Underly sent the below statement to department staff to address the Colorado Springs tragedy. I know many of you are likely working to support your educators and students, so I wanted to share this language with you. Thank you for your service in these challenging times.
Sincerely,
John W. Johnson, PhD
Deputy State Superintendent
Dear DPI Family,
I’m writing today out of a sense of grief and of anger, and my intention is to offer support and community.
The mass shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs is a tragedy, and it threatens the physical and emotional safety of our LGBTQ+ community. This was an attack on a place of joy and connection and pride. In the past few months, there have also been attacks on places of necessity, including a deadly racist shooting at a grocery store. There have been attacks on places of learning, including a university campus and an elementary school. Some of these mass shootings were motivated by hate, and all of them are attacks on community and safety.
Today is a day that I know many of our colleagues are hurting, and as someone who does not share the identity of the targeted community in this attack but loves many people who are, I know my experience of this event is different. I also know that grief isn’t linear, and neither is anger. And I know that, in other times of trauma, both national and personal, I have felt a sense of healing when my family, friends, and colleagues offer their support and provide me space to process and just feel my feelings. I encourage you to reach out to colleagues today, and to receive whatever response they give with generosity and kindness, as I know all of us process differently and some may rather not share that experience. If you would like to connect with your colleagues, the LGBTQ+ employee resource group (ERG) is offering space for that this afternoon at 1pm. The invitation to that meeting is attached to this email. Please do what is best for you in this moment as we hold space for each other.
Going forward, we will work to help create intentional spaces for coming together and processing when traumatic events happen in the future. It is my fervent hope that we will not need to, and I also know that is not realistic. I will work with our ERGs to ensure supportive spaces, and DPI will continue to ensure access to our employee assistance program (EAP). And I will reach out to my colleagues and offer support and community.
Thank you for taking care of each other.
With gratitude,
Jill