The band director at Denver School of the Arts faces allegations from students and parents that he demeaned young musicians and their families, leading some to leave the arts-oriented public school while others called for his firing.
This spring, 49 parents, students, and community members signed a request for Denver Public Schools to investigate the behavior of Michael Paulez, the band leader.
In the 27-page document sent to school and district officials and shared with Denverite, the signees asked for a “formal district review” of Paulez and “leadership change within the DSA Band program” before the next school year.
In interviews and in the petition, the families alleged Paulez:
- Created an “emotionally unsafe” and “overly punitive” classroom environment with students being “publicly singled out,” “belittled” and “made to feel responsible for broader program frustrations.”
- Wasted class time by having “non-instructional discussions during rehearsal time” and sharing overly personal details about his financial concerns and family.
- Showed favoritism to certain students and picked on others.
Denverite interviewed four students and 10 parents while reporting this article, all of whom reported negative experiences with Paulez and called for his removal. Their complaints focused on his verbal treatment of students.
DSA administrators did not respond to requests for comment, while Paulez and district officials declined to comment.
Allegations of demeaning behavior
DSA is a public magnet school with around 1,000 students from grades 6 through 12. Students audition for admittance and specialize in areas like music or visual arts. Its main campus is at Montview Boulevard and Quebec Street, and the school expanded a few years ago to the nearby former Johnson and Wales building.
Paulez took the band director job in 2023, replacing a former leader who founded the program. According to the DSA website, Paulez “previously founded the band program at Riverdale Ridge High School and taught at Westminster and Wheat Ridge High Schools.”
At DSA, he developed a reputation among some students for his sharp-edged style.
Miles Cohen, 15, is a percussionist entering his sophomore year with the band program. He told Denverite that Paulez has crushed students’ interest in music.
“He’s passive-aggressive, and he makes kids resent the music, resent him. I’ve seen it happen to a few of my friends where they just really do not care about the music anymore because he just creates this hate in them,” Miles said. (He is quoted with his parents’ consent.)
Miles recounted a time that he accidentally dropped his wallet in class, only for Paulez to accuse him of “being selfish” and “taking time out of everybody’s class time.”
He continued: “When I try to explain myself, apologize, or say ‘You’re right, I’m sorry,’ he always says, ‘Sorry is as sorry does. I don’t even know what that means. Maybe I made a mistake, I’m going to apologize. It just makes it feel like it does not matter at all, and it really sucks.”
Miles’ parents, Blake and Clarissa Cohen, said Miles is a “resilient and confident kid,” so they know he “will come out of this just fine.” But Clarissa Cohen worries about sending Miles back to the program, and for other students, too.
‘It’s heartbreaking’
“He likes to discipline by shaming the kids. Kids have cried in class. He humiliates them. It’s just a very toxic environment,” Clarissa Cohen said. “And these are young kids and they love music and it’s heartbreaking to see what he’s doing to them.”
Joy Rollins is the mom of a current band student. She saw Paulez’s behavior firsthand when she volunteered to help at a jazz festival where the DSA band was performing.
“It was an absolute disaster because no student was prepared and I felt bad for them,” she said. “These students are talented. It’s not for a lack of talent. I watched Paulez rip these kids apart. It just went on and on. He’s very aggressive.”
Jennah Lagomarsino, who has a student currently enrolled at DSA, said that as a former member of the band’s volunteer board, she “didn’t get” the severity of Paulez’s “condescending” behavior until she went to New York with him and the band students in March as a volunteer.
“He was horrible in New York. He was so condescending to us as adults in front of the kids and was just unkind and I just didn’t get it,” the parent said. “Until I went to New York and he berated me and personally attacked me, I had no idea. I really didn’t. And I went, ‘God, if he can make me feel this way, how’s he making these kids feel every day?’”
Lagomarsino emailed Paulez about a particular incident.
“You called me out in front of the chaperone group for not giving you my undivided attention while I was actively managing a student situation,” she wrote. “Being addressed that way in front of others felt both undermining and, frankly, embarrassing. Afterward, several adults and students checked in with me, which reinforced how noticeable the interaction was.”
Denverite attempted to reach Paulez over email, phone, and text, including details of the petition and complaints about him.
Paulez responded with a text: “Hi there. This is Michael Paulez. I don’t know if I’m allowed to say anything, let me get back to you.” He later edited the text to read “Hi there. This is Michael Paulez. Stay tuned.” He did not respond to further questions.
All the students and parents Denverite spoke to said that Paulez shows a pattern of favoritism toward certain students and “targets” others.
Some students have left
Concerns about Paulez led 11 students to either leave the band or leave DSA entirely, according to three families Denverite spoke to who have students still enrolled at the school.
“I am the father of a former DSA student who left at the end of middle school primarily because of his negative experience in band,” read one email included in the formal petition sent to DPS leaders. The parent, who signed the letter under his name, did not respond to Denverite’s request for comment.
But the families Denverite interviewed said conversations with Paulez have not yielded change.
Blake Cohen, father of sophomore percussionist Miles, said Paulez is “recalcitrant.” When Cohen met with Paulez and DSA assistant principal Kevin Adams, Paulez “blamed every complaint or concern that I expressed to him — he found a way to turn around and blame on Miles.”
Parents have complained
Parents say they have repeatedly complained to DSA administrators about Paulez.
Lagomarsino forwarded Denverite several emails she sent to DSA and DPS administration asking them to take action against Paulez, starting in March.
“We will discuss scheduling a meeting. I want to be honest with you up front, though: in my experience, these meetings often have expectations we cannot meet, and families leave more frustrated than when they arrived,” DSA Principal Brian Cochran wrote back in one email from March.
The past few years have seen turmoil at DSA. Chalkbeat reported earlier this year that the former executive principal of the school, Anthony McWright, left in 2025 after multiple students and parents publicly complained that his administration was absent and unresponsive. Three other administrators also left DSA.
DSA parents say the current administration has been responsive and willing to listen but unable to enact any meaningful change.
“They have listened to us, but they’ve also told us they can’t tell us anything,” Lagomarsino said. “Every time we’ve had a meeting, even this summer we’ve had meetings with them, they have always been open. The feedback from them has been A, social-emotional abuse is very hard to prove. And B, because of the labor laws and their union, teachers are so protected.”
No comment from the school district
Denverite emailed DSA’s principal, two assistant principals, and dean of culture but only received automated out-of-office messages.
The group that sent the complaint in May hasn’t received a response either, members said.
“I got zero response from anyone. And we delivered it in hard copy as well as digital,” Lagomarsino said.
Scott Pribble, a spokesperson for DPS, wrote to Denverite in an email that “neither Denver Public Schools nor Dr. Marrero are able to comment on complaints that have been filed against any DPS staff member,” referring to Superintendent Alex Marrero.
Pribble continued: “When a complaint or concern regarding any DPS employee is brought to our attention, we follow established institutional policies and procedures to review the matter thoroughly, fairly, and objectively. To protect the integrity of this process and the privacy rights of all individuals involved, we do not comment publicly on specific personnel matters.”
Pribble did not say whether any investigation had been conducted or what its status might be.
Echoes of earlier controversies
The accusations against Paulez echo previous allegations about how DSA’s dance and vocal staff treated students.
As CPR News reported in 2018, DSA’s vocal teachers left their positions after a year-long investigation into complaints that included “alleged harassment and discrimination against students with emotional or mental disabilities, and retaliation.”
Two renowned dance teachers also resigned in 2018 after a five-month investigation into “allegations of an abusive educational environment.”
Parents like Joy Rollins don’t want Paulez back, either.
“He needs to go — 100% he needs to go before school starts. No child should ever see him ever again,” Rollins said.
The DPS school year starts Aug. 24.