Jefferson County, CO — In response to recent public statements made by Jeffco Public Schools, the Jeffco Education Support Professionals Association (JESPA) is setting the record straight: there is a serious, ongoing failure in this district when it comes to addressing misconduct—including sexual misconduct—and it starts at the top.
In a statement to the press, Kimberly Mahugh, associate chief of communications and strategic partnerships for Jeffco Public Schools, claimed:
“Under Colorado law and the negotiated agreements with our associations for licensed teachers and non-licensed staff, Jeffco is held accountable to steps of due process regarding employment termination. So should a staff member make the decision to resign in lieu of the legal dismissal process, Jeffco will often accept this resignation to quickly remove the staff member from our payroll and save our taxpayers money rather than going through what can often be a lengthy and legally required dismissal process.”
This statement implies that union contracts are to blame for Jeffco’s decision to quietly let potentially dangerous employees walk away without accountability. That is both misleading and unacceptable.
JESPA has repeatedly told the district: if you have the evidence and cause to terminate someone—do it. That’s your job. If there’s a disagreement, there’s a process to resolve it. But what we see time and time again that the district has the evidence and simply fails to act.
Instead of acknowledging their own failure to act, district officials have chosen to shift blame to “negotiated agreements.” Let’s be clear: the issue is not due process. The issue is district leadership’s repeated failure to investigate, document, or enforce its own policies.
Here are just a few examples:
- Employees report sexual harassment by coworkers—and are told it “didn’t happen” unless there was a witness.
- Investigations are left to unqualified administrators—or worse, JESPA bargaining unit members—without any authority or proper training.
- Employees accused of harassing students or coworkers are quietly allowed to resign, preserving a clean record they can carry to another district.
- Problem employees are simply shuffled between buildings, with no accountability or consequences.
And if the person causing harm or violating the rules is an administrator? Protection, deflection, or even promotion.
JESPA has raised these issues repeatedly. We’ve filed grievances, called for investigations, and challenged administrative decisions in hearings—only to face resistance and stonewalling. What does it say when JESPA consistently has to challenge administrators who overturn our grievances and side with their fellow administrators, even in cases where harm is clear? What does it say when administrators refuse to answer questions, withhold evidence, and back each other no matter what?
These are not isolated events. They are part of a pattern. And while the district continues to deflect, we are demanding accountability.
If the district won’t take action to stop misconduct, we will continue to expose it until they do. Because no student, staff member, or community member should feel unsafe in their school.
JESPA has pushed again and again for clarity and structure in Jeffco:
- We’ve fought to restore employee orientation, so workers understand their duties, expectations, and consequences, from day one.
- We’ve demanded clear rules, equal enforcement, and consistent consequences.
- We’ve even had to bargain for basic, common-sense protections—such as the right to refuse unsafe directives or to call 911 in an emergency without first seeking approval from an administrator.
Let’s also be honest about who does seem to get targeted in Jeffco: Not those who cause harm—but those who speak up about it. There is a culture of fear and retaliation—one that punishes critical thinking and rewards compliance.
When JESPA leaders speak up, we’re scolded for “breaking trust” with the district. When we demand accountability to an agreement or a policy, we’re told we’re being “unprofessional” or that we “violated the norms.” When we push any kind of improvements, we’re told that “social justice” doesn’t belong here.
And when we refuse to back down, we’re accused of being disruptive.
To that, we say: Good. We must be disruptive—because the status quo is failing our students.
The district’s failure to act is not a labor issue—it’s a leadership issue. If Jeffco leadership spent half as much time enforcing its own policies as it does pointing fingers or ignoring issues, this crisis wouldn’t exist.
JESPA is not the problem. We’re the ones showing up with solutions.
