Denver school board meeting over antisemitism allegation ends in procedural wrangling, with no investigation announced

Denver Public Schools' elected board met Wednesday for the first time since its president accused a fellow director of making an antisemitic comment about a colleague. Part of the session was spent arguing over procedure, and members ended without agreeing on how to proceed.

Board President Xóchitl Gaytán has leveled policy-violation allegations against directors Monica Hunter and Donald "D.J." Torres. Much of the meeting centered on whether Gaytán followed proper procedure in bringing those claims to the full board. Hunter, Torres and director John Youngquist argued she should first have addressed them privately with her colleagues. Gaytán said she tried to do that individually with Hunter and Torres before making the claims public, but that they rebuffed her efforts. "You said I ignored you and that is not true," Hunter said. "That is very much true," Gaytán replied. Torres repeatedly interrupted Gaytán as she spoke.

When the discussion turned to the substance of the allegations, it stayed at a surface level. Directors spoke about the need for healthy disagreement and for setting a better example for students, but did not examine the specifics. Board members John Youngquist and Kimberlee Sia said they wanted more information about the antisemitism allegation, the most serious of the claims, and an investigation into it. Hunter, the board's vice president, said she welcomed that. "(The allegation of antisemitism) is very serious and I would like to have more information and be able to dig into that a little further," Sia said. The board did not announce an investigation, nor did it direct staff to open one.

Gaytán has not said whom the alleged comment concerned or what phrase she considered antisemitic. In a Friday email to Hunter, she wrote that the language was used in connection with Hunter's stated opposition to supporting the colleague for an officer position and her stated refusal to sit next to that colleague on the dais. Amy Klein Molk, who is Jewish, is the only new member elected last year who did not receive an officer title. Klein Molk did not directly address the allegation Wednesday, saying only, "We have a responsibility to act in a certain way."

Hunter also did not directly address the accusation but called all of Gaytán's allegations "baseless." The Friday emails to Hunter and Torres accused both of not fulfilling their duties as elected officials. The claims range from Torres' absence from recent meetings to an accusation that Hunter contacted DPS staff about the possible transfer of her own son to another school. "Continuing to attack the only Black member of the board does not feel good," Hunter said.

Torres said he had heard that Gaytán and DPS staffers had been looking into his behavior on "a hunt to find violations." He added: "Scheduling changes are not policy violations." Both Hunter and Torres noted that earlier efforts to resolve the board's conflicts, including a recent retreat, had done little to ease the mistrust among members. They said DPS has spent at least $30,000 on mediation. "We continue to spend time talking about ourselves," Hunter said.

The meeting was the third time in recent months that the board scheduled a session to work through its disputes but avoided doing so publicly. Members did not reach consensus on what their role should be as the governing board of Colorado's largest school district. The tensions stem partly from differing views on how to operate under the district's governance model. Superintendent Alex Marrero, who has also clashed with the board, has accused members of meddling in the district's day-to-day operations.

Marrero praised members for talking with one another Wednesday while acknowledging that more conversation is needed. "Staff (and) myself are in the middle of what is happening here and it is untenable," he said. "We are in a no-win situation. I encourage more of this dialogue."