board President Xóchitl Gaytán accused board member Monica Hunter of making an antisemitic comment about a fellow director, detailing the allegation in emails that accuse Hunter and board member Donald “D.J.” Torres of not fulfilling their duties as elected officials.
Gaytán sent the emails to Hunter and Torres on Friday, accusing them of numerous policy violations, and marking the latest escalation in a conflict that has plagued the governing body of Colorado’s largest K-12 district in recent months.
The emails, obtained by The Denver Post under the Colorado Open Records Act, showed that Gaytán’s allegations ranged from Hunter’s use of an unspecified antisemitic term to Torres’ absence from recent meetings. The school board is expected to discuss the allegations during a Wednesday morning meeting.
Hunter called Gaytán’s allegations “baseless” in a statement to The Post on Tuesday.
“I unapologetically believe in the dignity, respect and safety of all people, and that no one should face discrimination because of their identity,” Hunter said. “Accusations of this nature carry serious historical weight and should not be made lightly.”
In her emails to the board members, Gaytán alleged Torres and Hunter refused to communicate with her directly.
“Your reported refusal to engage directly with the board president and a board colleague, including declining reasonable requests for telephone communication, raises serious concerns regarding your fulfillment of your duties and responsibilities as an elected official,” Gaytán told Hunter in an email.
She levied more allegations of policy violations against Hunter than Torres. District staff and community members have accused Hunter, the board vice president, of using a derogatory term to refer to a colleague’s “Jewish identity and/or perceived political identity,” Gaytán wrote.
“I have been informed that the antisemitic language was used in connection with your stated opposition to supporting the board colleague for an officer position and your stated refusal to sit next to that colleague on the board dais,” she wrote.
Gaytán did not name the colleague who Hunter allegedly referenced nor reveal the phrase she deemed antisemitic. The only new member of the board who did not receive an officer title when they were elected last year was Amy Klein Molk, who is Jewish.
Gaytán declined to discuss the matter with The Post. Molk could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Director John Youngquist said he was previously unaware of the allegation that Hunter made an antisemitic remark. But, he said, the accusation needs to be investigated by a third party since it appears to have been initially made by someone other than Gaytán.
“I would want that to happen if it was me,” Youngquist said.
Board members are struggling to work together — as well as with DPS Superintendent Alex Marrero — because of their different views on how to work under the school districtap governance model. Marrero has accused board members of wading into the day-to-day operations of the district.
Hunter and Torres both tried to schedule a meeting last month to discuss and possibly take action on Marrero’s employment, but failed to gain enough board support to do so. The directors said two of their colleagues backed out of calling for a meeting after initially supporting the move.
The board has held at least two meetings during which members were expected to discuss and work on their relationships with each other and the superintendent. But during both meetings, including a retreat last month, directors shied away from directly addressing their infighting.
“I am not surprised that we are here,” Torres said in a statement. “After a summer in which VP Hunter and I repeatedly advocated for meaningful conversations and board action, only to have meeting requests blocked, ignored or delayed, we are now facing false accusations about our own conduct. I view this timing and escalation as retaliatory in response to my advocacy and willingness to challenge how this board operates.”
Wednesday’s virtual meeting is expected to address the new allegations made against Hunter and Torres.
Hunter also faces allegations that she contacted two DPS staffers in order to advocate on behalf of a parent in an enrollment and school choice matter as well as to discuss the potential transfer of her own son to a different school. Hunter should have addressed such concerns with Marrero instead, Gaytán said.
Gaytán made other allegations against Hunter, including that she criticized other board members on social media and has made legal threats when dealing with colleagues.
Hunter’s employment with the has been called a conflict of interest by district staff — concerns echoed by Gaytán in her email. The board president wrote that Hunter’s employment itself isn’t an issue, but when combined with her board duties — such as a recent vote on a collective bargaining issue — there could be a conflict of interest, so the situation should be reviewed by an attorney to determine whether Hunter should recuse herself from such votes.
Gaytán primarily accused Torres of violating board policy by not regularly attending meetings and carrying out his role as treasurer. Torres has missed a regular meeting, several work sessions, and meetings of the finance and audit committee — and canceled or failed to attend virtual meetings with district employees, she wrote in her email.
“Further, repeated cancellations or failures to attend scheduled 1:1 meetings with me as board president and with the superintendent raise concerns regarding your ability to consistently fulfill your governance responsibilities and maintain the communication necessary for the effective functioning of the board,” Gaytán wrote.
Torres pushed back on Gaytán’s allegations that he has violated board policies.
“A changed calendar is not evidence that I am disengaged or unwilling to govern,” Torres wrote in his statement. “In many cases, it is evidence that I was governing somewhere else. Turning those scheduling decisions into allegations of misconduct is precisely the kind of exaggeration I am concerned about.”
Gaytán accused Torres of failing to attend meetings with the Latino Education Advisory Committee despite being assigned such a role by the board. She said in her email that he has only provided one treasurer’s report in the nine months he has been on the board, and has “canceled, failed to attend, or arrived late to Finance and Audit Committee meetings with limited advance notice…”
In June, Torres backed out of attending a conference in Canada at the last minute despite DPS already paying for his travel, including registration, airfare and hotel, Gaytán alleged.
Torres said he didn’t attend the conference in Canada because his childcare was canceled.
“We paid every single fee back out of our own personal dollars and I have no outstanding debt with the Canada trip,” he said. “This includes transportation and hotel. The conference fee was non-refundable, but I have access to the conference materials, so I consider that a cost I will still utilize in my board service.”
