6 westword.com WESTWORD APRIL 23-29, 2026 | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | Smells Like Team Spirit GIVE ME A “B,” GIVE ME A “U,” GIVE ME A “LLY.” WHAT DOES IT SPELL? TROUBLE FOR VISTA PEAK! BY BENNITO L. KELT Y In January 2025, the Vista Peak Preparatory cheer team competed in a prestigious na- tional competition in Florida. It was the fi rst time the team had gone to the contest – the fi rst time that most members of the thirty- member squad had been to Florida – and hopes were as high as a cheer pyramid. But then the program collapsed. “My daughter, she loves cheer. It’s not just a sport to her. She loves her team members,” says a Vista Peak parent whose daughter said she was bullied that weekend. “The school, they didn’t do anything. It’s been a lot.” The woman – we’re calling her Cassie because she asked that her real name not be used – said her daughter came back with sto- ries about being forced to practice in the rain, being excluded from a team dinner because of her peanut allergies, and being made fun of not just by other cheer members, but the cheer coach. Cassie reported what her daughter had told her to the Vista Peak vice principal. Vista Peak Prep is a pre-K through high school campus in east Aurora. According to Aurora Public Schools, the school is designed to provide “a seamless transition from pre- school through graduation on a single campus, with more than 2,000 high school student. About 1,000 are Latino and 500 are Black, according to Colorado Department of Educa- tion fi gures; more than half of the members of the varsity cheer team last year were Black. Westword spoke with four families whose children participated in Vista Peak’s cheer- leading program over the last two years. The parents say the team’s then-head coach, Kristin Kindred, humiliated Black students and ignored serious injuries. “We take all allegations of bullying and ha- rassment seriously and thoroughly investigate each incident. We have been working closely with Vista Peak parents to understand and ad- dress their concerns,” says APS spokesperson Corey Christian. “We will continue to work with Vista Peak families to ensure that stu- dents and families feel valued and supported.” The Epitome of Black Excellence and Partnership, a racial and social justice activist group, doesn’t cheer that response. Complaints from Last Year On February 14, 2025, Vista Peak principal Mehran Ahmed emailed Kristin Kindred, asking to meet with her regarding a com- plaint from a parent. The Colorado high school cheer season ends in February, and before it wrapped up last year, Ahmed directed Vista Peak athletic director David Benedict to interview parents about what had happened at nationals, ac- cording to a February 25, 2025 email. Benedict sent a group email to parents of cheer team members that day, “follow- ing up with a couple negative things with some parents,” he wrote. “Could you please provide the following to me by Friday (indi- vidually)? Where there any issue that arose or confl icts? If so, who was it between and how was it handled/resolved? If you have photos and videos of all the neat things you did, please also share! Thanks.” Aurora Public Schools declined to release those responses, saying they’re protected under federal law. That same day, Kindred emailed Ahmed to say she was caught off guard by the school’s decision to investigate, which she’d learned of through her cheerleaders. According to Kindred, Ahmed told her not to worry, that she was the victim of abuse and harassment by parents. “In fi nding out that there was an inves- tigation being conducted to determine the reliability of a parent’s complaint in regards to nationals, was blindsiding and caught me off guard,” Kindred wrote. “Especially, when I was told not to worry about this parent and her allegations. Here we are doing an investigation. Not only have I been harassed by this parent, I have been accused of things simply for the fact to be accused.” Kindred then threatened to suspend the 2025-’26 cheer season until school adminis- trators came up with “a plan to reconcile” and “a formal apology from the family for their actions.” According to Colorado High School Activities Association bylaws, the power to shut down a season is restricted to “properly constituted school offi cials,” such as a school principal or the district superintendent. Kindred followed up with another email to Ahmed on March 19. “Is there any update on the investigation? I haven’t heard any- thing yet and was curious as to what the next steps are,” she wrote. Ahmed responded that Benedict would arrange a meeting between Kindred and “the parent” who complained about nationals. That meeting never took place, according to emails from Ahmed, who said Cassie — referred to as “the parent” — had stopped responding. “I thought they were going to help, but the vice principal immediately began defending” Kindred when she raised complaints about nationals, Cassie says, add- ing that she had previously contacted the vice principal regarding concerns about Kindred and nothing had been done. For example, at the start of the 2024-’25 season, she’d complained that her daughter was told she couldn’t cheer because her hair couldn’t be tied in a ponytail, but Kindred relented after Cassie mentioned the CROWN Act, a state law that prohibits discrimination based on hairstyles like braids, locks and curls. Cheryl Carter, grandmother of Cassie’s child and founder of the Colorado Cotillion- Beautillion, a youth empowerment program, tells Westword that for the past two years, her family and others have shared concerns with Vista Peak administrators regarding how injuries were being handled. Cassie says she reported Kindred in 2024 after her daughter sustained a concussion. “This lady, she can’t be trusted with my kid. I felt like she caused her concussion,” Cassie says. “Whatever issue the coach had with my daughter, she was being a bully. She was my daughter’s fi rst bully.” Still, despite Cassie’s suggestion that her daughter leave the team, she kept cheering. Her daughter “loved the team” and her fel- low cheerleaders, Cassie says. Three other families who asked that their names not be used tell Westword they had also reported Kindred’s behavior to Vista Peak offi cials during the 2024-’25 season, but say their communications were ignored. “When I raised concerns, I hoped for reso- lutions and some understanding,” one mother says. “Instead, the response felt procedural and only focused on their ‘rules.’ It felt like the system wasn’t listening, and I don’t know if they will ever fully understand.” But after Cassie submitted complaints to the Aurora Public School District after the nationals competition, the APSD got involved. Jason Maclin, the APSD director of high school operations, emailed Ahmed on April 22, 2025, asking him for “a full update on the current status of this as soon as possible,” then added, “Were there con- sequences for the involved students? Did we look into the professionalism concerns involving the staff members?” Ahmed told Maclin that Vista Peak had interviewed “all parties” in January and Feb- ruary 2025, including “parents, students and adults,” and that “the parent” had stopped communicating; he then suggested that all of the complaints were coming from Cassie. “It was a mix of statements stating the trip was amazing, everything was great to there was not enough food,” Ahmed wrote to Maclin. “We determined there needed to be a restorative conversation with the coach and parent. The parent went radio silent for the last month and half with no communica- tion back to our athletic director.” Not all of the complaints involved the nationals, though. Other families who spoke with Westword say their complaints about Kindred focused more on the emotional distress their children eported. “It wasn’t one defi ning moment but a pattern that built over time,” one parent tells Westword. “Over time, my child be- gan coming home feeling discouraged and singled out.” “There were stretches where things seemed calm and normal, and then there were moments where the same concerns kept coming up,” another parent says. “That inconsistency made it hard for my child to feel secure in the program...My child felt like they were walking on eggshells.” A third parent tells Westword that “what made it challenging was the unpredictability. Some interactions were positive, but others were very troubling.” That parent adds: “What might feel like a small interaction to an adult can shape how a child sees themselves and their place in a program.My child had moments of excite- ment and connection on the team, but there were also experiences where my child felt disrespected and NEWS continued on page 8 KEEP UP ON DENVER NEWS AT WESTWORD.COM/NEWS Vista Peak Prep’s cheer season is over for the year. APSD
