The U.S. Department of Education has opened an investigation into Jeffco Public Schools’ handling of allegations of sexual misconduct by district staff, the federal agency announced Tuesday.
Jeffco Public Schools is one of several school districts in the country that the departmentap Office for Civil Rights is investigating to determine whether their handling of sexual misconduct allegations violated Title IX, the landmark law passed in 1972 to ensure women and girls can participate in school activities without harassment or discrimination.
The federal agency also opened investigations into school districts in New York, California, Georgia, North Carolina, Missouri, Texas and Virginia.
Tuesday’s announcement comes after Lindsay Datko, founder of parent group Jeffco Kids First, filed complaints against the district, alleging it discriminated against students when it “failed to respond appropriately to alleged sexual harassment of students by district employees,” according to a that she shared on social media.
Jeffco Public Schools representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
At least four Jeffco Public Schools employees have been arrested recently on suspicion of sexually assaulting students on campus, the announcing the investigation. It did not detail those cases.
But in March, a Jeffco Public Schools bus driver was arrested and accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a 10-year-old student. The district placed 64-year-old Robert Charles Watters on administrative leave.
At least two other former Jeffco Public Schools employees have been arrested and accused of sexual misconduct this year.
In June, Brian Richie, a former campus security employee and bus driver, was arrested in Longmont and charged with sexual assault on a child after a girl he babysat told police he inappropriately touched her.
Patricio Illanes, a former Arvada Senior High School teacher, was after police said he forced students at Boulder County schools to create child sexual abuse material and then sold that content. A 2023 St. Vrain Valley School District investigation found Illanes violated the district’s policies and recommended he not return to the district, but that finding wasn’t shared with Jeffco Public Schools when it hired Illanes in 2024, Jeffco officials told police.
Jeffco Public Schools fired the 67-year-old Richie, who had worked for the district for many years, first as a bus driver in 2006, when it learned of the investigation, according to an unnamed spokesperson.
Neither Richie nor Illanes has been accused of conduct involving Jeffco students.
The investigation is the latest in a months-long conflict between Colorado’s second-largest school district and the Trump administration.
The Department of Education has threatened multiple times to pull federal funding from the district over its policies that support transgender students. In response, Jeffco Public Schools filed a federal lawsuit, arguing that changing its policies would violate a Colorado law, which protects transgender students’ access to facilities based on their gender identities.
If the federal government takes away Jeffco Public Schools’ funding, more than $50 million, including for special education programs and school lunches, is at risk.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
