In Fall 2024, a student at Ralston Valley High School suffered a serious head injury. The medical signs were clear: slurred speech, disorientation, and a large contusion with visible bleeding. A trained health professional was present. The policies for responding to emergencies were in place.
But help was delayed — not because of confusion, but because a school principal with no medical training overrode medical judgment.
This wasn’t a one-time mistake. It exposed something much deeper: a culture in Jeffco Public Schools where school leaders face little accountability, even when student safety is on the line.
Crisis Ignored
Alexander Marin, the school’s Health Technician and a Certified Nursing Assistant with more than 30 years of experience, immediately recognized the signs of a medical emergency and requested a 911 call.
The principal refused.
Instead, she instructed Alex to call the district’s on-call registered nurse. The RN, after hearing the symptoms, also said to call 911. Still, the principal said no and urged the RN to come to the school. The RN arrived, assessed the student in person, and again gave the same direction: call 911. It wasn’t until the student vomited and began coughing up blood that 911 was finally called — not by the principal, but by the RN and Alex.
This wasn’t a breakdown in communication. It was a deliberate override of medical protocol and a violation of the District’s own emergency response policy.
And it wasn’t just about one bad decision — it was the product of a larger climate in Jeffco where principals operate with sweeping authority and very little oversight.
In this case, the principal had implemented her own internal 911 protocol that added extra steps and delayed emergency care. A child suffered as a result.
A System That Protects Power
After the incident and no follow-up or debrief at the school level, Alex filed a formal complaint. But in Jeffco, there’s no clear process for reporting policy violations by administrators. So the complaint was emailed to cabinet-level officials to make sure it got the proper attention.
JESPA’s Executive Director, Vicki Flores, raised the issue directly with the superintendent and legal counsel, citing the conflict between the school’s internal 911 procedure and district policy, and asking for immediate intervention.
But it took months for the District to complete an investigation. HR partner Meghan Hendricks was assigned. She took an initial statement from Alex, but declined to speak to key witnesses — including the RN who had firsthand knowledge of the incident. She ended the meeting quickly, citing a low laptop battery and declining an offer to plug in and continue.
The investigation dragged on. When it was finally completed four months after the incident, the report chalked the 911 delay up to a “misunderstanding.” Although medical staff were clear in their assessments, the report emphasized administrator statements and ultimately concluded that no district policies had been violated.
JESPA filed a grievance and met with the Principal’s Community Superintendent, Beth Elmgreen. Instead of addressing the issue of delayed emergency care, she appeared more focused on scrutinizing Alex’s work and turning the grievance hearing into a health room review.
She cited internal survey data to claim the workplace was safe and free from intimidation. However, when JESPA requested to see the data under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, the District refused — citing privacy protections that do not apply to anonymous, AI-summarized survey responses.
If there’s nothing to hide, why block transparency?
A Toxic Climate, Backed by the Data
The failures at Ralston Valley didn’t happen in a vacuum — they happened in a school culture where trust in leadership is already deeply fractured. The 2024 Teaching and Learning Conditions Colorado (TLCC) survey results for Ralston Valley High School paint a troubling picture.
Only 62% of staff at the school responded favorably about the overall professional climate — a full 20 points lower than the Jefferson County average. Just 54% said the school is led by an effective leadership team. Even more alarming, only 44% of staff reported feeling comfortable raising important issues with school leaders, and just 43% believed they had any meaningful influence on school decisions.
These aren’t just numbers. They reveal a culture where staff don’t feel safe to speak up — a dynamic that becomes particularly dangerous when policies are ignored and student safety is at risk.
The problems don’t stop there. Only half of staff said leadership works to build trust or implements staff suggestions. If trust is foundational to a safe and functional school, then Ralston Valley is on shaky ground. When voices like Alex Marin’s are ignored or minimized, it raises serious concerns about whether any staff member can feel confident that leadership will do the right thing when it matters most.
The data also suggest a chilling effect on reporting. When fewer than half of staff feel safe speaking up, it’s not because the issues don’t exist — it’s because the cost of saying something may be too high. Retaliation may not show up directly in a survey, but silence speaks volumes.
Even in areas where consistency should be expected — such as enforcing student behavior rules — only 52% of staff agreed those rules are applied fairly. That kind of inconsistency doesn’t just affect discipline; it mirrors the broader problem of arbitrary decision-making and policy violations by school administrators.
The TLCC survey confirms what Alex experienced firsthand: a workplace culture where staff are unsupported, leadership is unchecked, and accountability is too often missing.
When Administrators Evade Consequences, Everyone Pays
When school administrators face no consequences for violating policy, a dangerous message is sent: the rules don’t apply to everyone.
Staff stop trusting the system. Safety protocols become optional. Those who speak up face retaliation. And worst of all, students are the ones who suffer.
What happened at Ralston Valley is a warning: even when student lives are at stake, Jeffco’s system is built to protect people in power, not our students, and not our staff.
JESPA Is Bargaining for Meaningful Safety Protocols
At the bargaining table, JESPA is demanding enforceable accountability and meaningful safety protections — because our students and our staff deserve more than vague promises. They deserve action.
Our safety proposals are grounded in what’s really happening in Jeffco schools, including the events at Ralston Valley. These proposals are designed not just to respond to emergencies, but to prevent harm in the first place, support staff who report concerns, and ensure safety is everyone’s priority — not an afterthought.
Here’s what JESPA is fighting for:
✅ Emergency Response Integrity: Clear, enforceable 911 protocols that cannot be overruled by non-medical staff. No ESP should face discipline or retaliation for calling 911 in good faith.
✅ Whistleblower Protections: Staff who report safety violations or policy concerns must be protected from retaliation. Safety reporting should be encouraged — not punished.
✅ Right to Refuse Unsafe Directives: ESPs can and should be empowered to say no to directives that put themselves, students, or others at risk.
✅ Site-Specific Emergency Training: All ESPs will receive location-specific emergency training annually, including crisis response, de-escalation strategies, and clear expectations around their role during emergencies.
✅ Transparency in Student Safety Plans: ESPs working directly with students must be informed of behavior and safety plans — with a commitment to confidentiality — to keep everyone safe and prepared.
✅ Safer Working Conditions Across Job Roles: From ensuring two adults are present during toileting to proper snow-removal equipment at bus terminals, these proposals close real safety gaps affecting ESPs every day.
✅ Health & Environmental Safety: Routine lead testing in drinking water, with public posting of results and prioritized remediation — because safety includes the environment we work in.
These proposals aren’t hypothetical. They’re the direct result of what workers like Alex Marin have lived through — and what too many others fear could happen if nothing changes.
Because safety shouldn’t be optional. It should be guaranteed.
The Bottom Line
This is not just about one principal or one incident. It’s about whether Jeffco Public Schools will enforce its own policies — or continue to protect those in power, no matter the harm.
“Accountability shouldn’t depend on your job title,” Alex told the Board of Education at a recent meeting. “I did the right thing. Now it’s your turn.”
JESPA couldn’t agree more.
We are fighting for a safer, more just Jeffco — where those who care for students are empowered to act, and where leaders who put them at risk are finally held accountable.
