Chevrier, who goes by Michael, was a Jeffco Public Schools psychologist at Green Mountain and Bear Creek high schools when he was arrested in May 2025 following a Safe2Tell report about the assault.

A jury convicted Chevrier, 39, in January of sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust, a felony, as well as two felony drug charges and two misdemeanor charges for contributing to the delinquency of a minor. He was acquitted on charges of of soliciting child prostitution and attempted child sex assault.

Court officials sealed Chevrier’s arrest affidavit early in the case and few details about the investigation were made public, though the previously confirmed the charges involved three students, as well as separate drug-related crimes.

District Court Judge Diego Hunt — from five years to life — that depends in part on complying with sex offender treatment, the district attorney’s office said in a news release. Prosecutors had argued for the maximum sentence of 12 years in prison for the assault charge.

The victim in the case spoke at the sentencing hearing Thursday about how Chevrier’s actions robbed her of her freshman year of high school and trust in adults, the DA’s office said.

In a statement, said Chevrier used his position of trust to identify, target and exploit vulnerable teen girls who came to him for help.

“The abuse only stopped because the victim was brave enough to testify before a jury, face her abuser and describe the lasting impact of his crimes while he sat only feet away,” Spease said.

Chevrier’s attorneys could not immediately be reached for comment on the sentencing.

confirmed Rob Stein as the district’s interim superintendent on Thursday, with the Board of Education approving a $300,000 contract for the new hire.

Stein, the former head of the Roaring Forks School District, will lead the district when Superintendent Tracy Dorland steps down on July 5.

Jeffco Public Schools will pay Stein a $300,000 annual salary to serve as interim superintendent, which will be paid in monthly installments of $25,000, according to his .

Stein will serve as superintendent while the school board searches for Dorland’s permanent replacement.

His contract runs through June 30, 2027.

Dorland said she’s leaving to take a job with the College Board, which is known for administering the SAT and Advanced Placement exams.

School systems began curtailing their spending last year by pulling back on staff raises, but now they are taking more drastic measures — marking a period of retrenchment that administrators say is likely to continue for the foreseeable future.

“This is probably the first of a number of difficult budget years because the state of Colorado simply can’t invest in K-12 — not to say that (the state) really invested in K-12 over the last number of years either,” said Scott Smith, chief financial officer for , during a school board meeting last week.

The K-12 budget crunch stems from the fact that enrollment is falling nationwide as fewer people have children and rising housing costs change where families live.

Generally, districts receive less money from the state when there are fewer children in their classrooms. The state uses a mechanism called averaging to determine how much money individual districts receive and to soften the impact of declining enrollment.

This year, Colorado used a three-year enrollment average, a change from last year’s four-year average. The change in how the state counts students is affecting districts’ bottom lines, and education officials are concerned about the state’s ability to implement the funding formula in the future given the government’s own budget constraints, officials who spoke to The Denver Post said.

While districts didn’t seeing a decrease in state funding this year, some, such as the , are receiving the same amount of money they did two years — which is a problem because the dollars that districts do receive aren’t stretching as far as they used to, as costs for health insurance, fuel and other expenses have increased, said Tracie Rainey, executive director of the .

“Every district is facing very different challenges,” she said. “They are very unique to every community.”

Democratic state legislators hope voters will approve a ballot measure in November that would exempt K-12 education funding from the spending cap set by the Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights, which would increase education funding by giving the state a $4.5 billion buffer before it needs to refund money.

Several metro Denver school districts have recorded deficits in recent years, using money they had saved in their reserves to balance their budgets. But district officials said they can’t continue to rely on those savings to make ends meet.

As a result, and Cherry Creek Schools began cutting jobs this year, slashing 139 and 159 positions, respectively. Adams 12 Five Star Schools eliminated roughly 150 positions in 2025.

Cherry Creek will reduce about $23 million via the cuts, a move that enabled the district to balance its roughly $846 million budget without using reserves.

Jeffco Public Schools, the state’s second-largest district, has spent most of the school year implementing a plan to trim $45 million, which included laying off 50 employees this month and cutting 89 unfilled positions.

The district expects to use $13 million from its reserves to balance the 2026-27 budget, an improvement from the $49 million deficit Jeffco ran last year. Jeffco Public Schools’ budget is nearly $1 billion.

“We are doing the work to live within our means, we’re making financially responsible decisions, and yet the declines in enrollment are so great that we continue to grapple with it,” outgoing Superintendent Tracy Dorland said.

Jeffco Public Schools leaders are hoping voters will approve a $15 million mill levy override in November that can increase funding for the district. Otherwise, the district will have a second round of reductions, Dorland said.

The , the state’s third-largest K-12 system, will close three elementary schools at the end of the month in an effort to save money. Still, the district will operate at a $22 million deficit next year because leaders plan to give staff 2% raises.

The Douglas County district saved money during the pandemic when schools struggled to fill staffing shortages, which is now enabling it to increase employee wages — a priority in recent years —by dipping into those reserves, Chief Financial Officer Jana Schleusner said.

However, the district can’t continue to use the money stashed away and is planning to slash between $15 million and $18 million — cuts that are likely to include jobs — in the 2027-28 fiscal year, she said.

“This is probably about the last year to use our reserves to stay where we are,” Schleusner said. “…As a nation, our demographics are changing. People aren’t having as many kids.”

, the state’s largest district, was able to balance its billion-dollar budget for next year without using reserves. But district officials expect to begin running a deficit by the 2027-28 academic year, according to the

The district is facing a cumulative four-year deficit of $28 million between the 2027-28 and 2030-31 fiscal years, according to a presentation district officials gave the Board of Education in May.

“We can’t continue to do everything we are doing when we have substantially fewer children,” DPS Chief Financial Officer Chuck Carpenter said.

The district’s financial outlook for the next four years “is something to be concerned about,” he added.

In this week, Colorado’s second largest school district said no boys were competing on those teams — and offered an explanation.

“Some teams had male managers, trainers, or mascots — not athletes,” the letter said.

“Because the (U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights) never asked us to clarify the role of any individual listed on those rosters, we did not learn of this confusion until the OCR issued a press release. Since that moment, we have repeatedly and respectfully asked the OCR to address this factual error. They have declined to do so.”

The U.S. Department of Education declined to comment for this story.

The federal Office for Civil Rights is meant to ensure equal access to education by enforcing laws that prohibit discrimination. But under President Donald Trump, the office has used the federal Title IX law to target school district policies that protect transgender students.

Jeffco has been in a back-and-forth with the federal office for a year.

Last June, the office on sleeping arrangements for transgender students on overnight school trips. The policy says transgender students should share rooms with peers who match their gender identity. A family had sued the district after their 11-year-old daughter was assigned to share a bed with a transgender student.

The federal office eventually found that several of Jeffco’s policies — including those on overnight accommodations, bathroom use, and sports participation — violated Title IX.

At first, the office said Jeffco athletic rosters indicated “that male students occupy 61 roster positions on girls’ sports teams.” of the press release posted on the federal education department¶¶Ňőap website walked back that language by adding the words “may” and “up to.”

The department has not answered questions from Chalkbeat about the change. Nor has it answered questions about how it made the determination about the 61 boys.

Last week, the federal office to Jeffco threatening to pull the 74,000-student district¶¶Ňőap federal funding if it doesn’t change its policies, saying the two sides are at an impasse.

In a statement, Jeffco disagreed about the impasse, noting that the district is still within the 90-day window that the office allows for good faith negotiations.

Jeffco has said from the start that it is following Colorado’s anti-discrimination law, which “directly contradicts” the Trump administration’s interpretation of Title IX, the district said.

“This places school districts in an impossible position,” the district wrote in its letter to the community, which was posted to its website Thursday. “We must navigate conflicting requirements with clear state law on one side and non-binding federal guidance on the other.”

Despite receiving an impasse letter, Jeffco said it has “not given up on dialogue” with federal officials to come to a resolution.

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The agency’s  on Monday accused the district of having clubs that “exclude students based on race” and of using students’ race to determine class assignments and academic support, according to a news release announcing the investigation.

The Office of Civil Rights did not identify the clubs in question or provide further details about those allegations.

“We strongly disagree with the characterization of district programming,” Cherry Creek Schools spokeswoman Ashey Verville said in a statement. “The district has not yet received a copy of the complaint. Without the complaint, we are not in a position to respond further.”

The Education Department said it is also investigating a parent committee — called the — that the Office of Civil Rights said grants access based solely on race, “denying other parents an equal opportunity to participate in the decisions that directly impact their children’s education.”

The Voices of Color Committee is made up of parents, teachers and administrators and has a goal of creating “an inclusive and safe environment” for students of color, according to the district’s website.

The Education Department said it has received complaints that the district trains teachers that the U.S. “was founded on ‘white supremacy’ and categorizes individuals as ‘oppressors’ and ‘oppressed’ based only on their skin color,” according to the news release.

The agency accuses Cherry Creek Schools of violating .

The Denver Post asked the Education Department for more information about its allegations against Cherry Creek Schools, but an unidentified spokesperson said via email that the agency would not comment on an open investigation.

“These allegations of racially discriminatory conduct in this District seem to permeate almost every aspect of the school community, affecting students, teachers, and parents alike,” Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey said in a statement. “Federal law prohibits racial discrimination, which means that race cannot be a factor in how the school educates its students or trains its teachers.

The Trump administration has repeatedly threatened to pull federal funding from K-12 districts nationwide that implement policies the federal government has called discriminatory, such as those that aim to recruit more Black teachers, place more students of color in advanced classes or otherwise relate to diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

The Trump administration previously launched separate investigations into Denver Public Schools and Jeffco Public Schools, accusing those districts of discriminating against girls with policies that support transgender students.

Both DPS and Jeffco Public Schools — the state’s two largest districts — defied the Education Department, refusing to alter their policies despite pressure from the federal government.

DPS hasn’t heard from the Education Department in months. But last week, the department threatened for a second time to pull Jeffco Public Schools’ funding for allowing transgender students to play sports and use girls bathrooms.

At the college level, the Trump administration launched an investigation last year into the University of Colorado’s Colorado Springs campus, accusing the school of discriminating against students because it “supported” a conference held by a nonprofit that aims to help students from underrepresented groups earn business degrees.

The school board’s decision comes less than a month after Superintendent Tracy Dorland announced she will resign in July.

The school board interviewed candidates for the interim position during a closed meeting Monday. Directors will vote on June 18 to confirm Stein as interim superintendent.

“Dr. Stein was selected, in part, due to his deep understanding of the work principles, educators and school teams do every day,” board President Michelle Applegate said during the meeting.

Dorland’s last day leading Colorado’s second-largest school district is July 5. She was hired as superintendent in 2021, which made her Jeffco Public Schools’ sixth superintendent in seven years.

She led the district through students’ return to the classroom during the pandemic and amid significant budget cuts and school closures as K-12 enrollment fell.

“I walked into quite a bit of instability and a leadership vacuum,” Dorland said in an interview. “It was a season of leadership for me where we had to make difficult decisions about very hard things.”

Dorland is leaving the district to become the vice president of academic leadership and engagement for the which is known for administering SAT and Advanced Placement exams, she said.

The district’s statement came after the Education Department again threatened to pull its federal funding over policies the Trump administration says discriminate against girls by allowing transgender students to compete in female sports and use women’s bathrooms.

The warning marks the second time this year that the agency’s has accused the district of violating .

The department issued its initial warning in March, giving the district 10 days to agree to a resolution, which would have reversed any policies that permit transgender students to play sports or access facilities, including overnight accommodations.

“The department¶¶Ňőap interpretation has no basis in the Title IX regulations and is not supported by any binding court decision,” Jeffco Public Schools said in an unsigned statement Wednesday. “At least one federal court of appeals has held that (President Donald Trump’s) executive order does not have the force of law and that it did not amend Title IX.  Prior federal administrations have taken the direct opposite view — that Title IX protects transgender students’ access to school programs and facilities.”

In their statement, Jeffco officials said they believe the Education Department’s renewed threat came in response to a letter the district sent Tuesday, informing agency officials that the Office of Civil Rights’ findings were based “on a fundamental misunderstanding of the data we provided in July of 2025.”

The federal government has said more than 60 male students are competing on girls’ sports teams in the district. The statement, which the Education Department cited in accusing Jeffco Public Schools of discrimination in March, is false, according to the district’s letter.

“To be clear, the data did not show any male student occupied a girls’ athletics competition role,” district officials said in their statement. “Jeffco also suggested that OCR direct its demands to the State of Colorado, since Jeffco lacks authority to deviate from or disregard the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act.”

The Education Department said in a statement Wednesday that Jeffco Public Schools hasn’t taken any action — including changing its policies — since the March letter and, as such, the department sent the district a warning letter that says federal funding could be pulled if changes aren’t made within 10 days.

But Jeffco Public Schools said district officials do not believe the two sides are at an impasse because they are still within the 90-day period given for good faith negotiations.

The federal government has targeted K-12 districts with policies supporting transgender students since Donald Trump returned to office last year.

The Education Department also accused Denver Public Schools of discriminating against girls in violation of Title IX by creating gender-neutral bathrooms at East High School. DPS defied the agency’s deadline to convert restrooms back into single-sex facilities last year, but the district never heard back from the Education Department.

Attorneys specializing in Title IX have said that Trump is misusing the law — which was created to ensure girls and women can participate in school activities without sexual harassment — in targeting districts for pro-transgender policies.

The Education Department launched its investigation into Jeffco Public Schools last year after a family sued the district in 2024, alleging their daughter went on an overnight trip and had to share a bed with a transgender girl.

“Not only did the district trample on females’ sex-based protections by allowing males to compete in their sports, intrude in their bathrooms, and sleep in their overnight accommodations, but now it refuses to fix the problem after being given the chance,” Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey said in a statement. “It is indifferent to the law and to the safety, privacy and dignity of women and girls. Its behavior here is unconscionable.”

The expenses show former Superintendent Christopher Smith — whose travel drew scrutiny in recent months — isn’t the only frequent-flying K-12 leader in metro Denver.

His peers at the Denver, Jefferson County, Aurora and Douglas County school districts have also had the chance to accrue miles in the past two years as they traveled to places such as Breckenridge, New Orleans and Helsinki, Finland, the expenditures showed.

It’s not unusual for K-12 district leaders to travel to conferences across the U.S. to receive professional development, but it’s becoming “increasingly more common” for superintendents to undertake international travel, said Melissa Gibson, executive director for the .

“Professional learning has always been a priority and, frankly, should be a priority,” she said. “…A lot of the highest quality conferences really occur at the national level.”

The expenditures reviewed by The Post covered a range of costs, including the superintendents’ airfare, mileage, meals, hotels and other travel expenses for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 fiscal years.

The travel costs for each superintendent reflect a small portion of each district¶¶Ňőap budget, but come as K-12 systems are tightening spending and closing schools amid declining enrollment and other financial pressures.

“It just sounds like a lot of money when schools are laying off teachers,” said Jane Feldman, an ethics consultant who previously was executive director of the Colorado Independent Ethics Commission, of the superintendents’ travel expenses. She is also chair of the. “…It’s a lot given the current economic pinch that all governments are under.”

Among the state’s five largest districts, Superintendent Alex Marrero spent the most money — $37,433 — on travel to conferences, including to Helsinki and Shanghai, China, documents show.

Marrero’s travel appears to exceed similar trips taken by his predecessors.

Former DPS Superintendent Tom Boasberg spent at least $8,927 traveling to conferences during his final two years leading Colorado’s largest K-12 district — although records for him were incomplete. Susana CĂłrdova, who preceded Marrero, spent less than $5,000 on travel as her tenure overlapped with the pandemic.

“It is important for the superintendent to also collaborate with, and learn from, other similar districts nationwide for the benefit of our students,” spokesman Bill Good said in a statement. “As such, travel is an expected and endorsed part of the superintendent¶¶Ňőap role and has been included in each of his contracts.”

Marrero traveled abroad to attend conferences held by the , an organization that Good said has a long history with DPS. Boasberg also attended conferences hosted by the organization, he said.

outgoing Superintendent Tracy Dorland spent the least amount of money — $6,408.53 — of the five metro Denver leaders, The Post found.

DPS and Jeffco Public Schools are the state’s largest and second-largest K-12 districts, respectively. They each operate a roughly $1 billion budget.

Superintendent Michael Giles and Superintendent Erin Kane spent $29,039 and $25,212, respectively, on travel during the same time period.

Smith, who previously ran Cherry Creek Schools, spent $23,499 on travel to conferences before he resigned in January.

An outside investigation found that Smith and his wife, Brenda Smith, the district¶¶Ňőap former human resources director, likely violated district policy by charging Cherry Creek Schools for costs of events they did not attend or only partially attended.

The district fired Brenda Smith earlier this month, citing multiple policy violations related to travel and contracts. The outside investigation did not find the Smiths violated district policy by accepting paid trips to Brazil and Guatemala, but ethics experts told The Post likely violated a state law that prohibits government officials from accepting gifts that can influence their decision-making.

Dorland, in a letter to families and community members, said she is leaving to “pursue a new opportunity beginning later this summer.” She did not say specifically what that opportunity is.

“This decision did not come lightly, given my deep commitment and care for our students, staff and community,” Dorland wrote in the letter.

Dorland was hired as superintendent in 2021, making her Jeffco Public Schools’ sixth superintendent in seven years. She led the district through a difficult period, including students’ return to the classroom during the pandemic and amid significant budget cuts and school closures as K-12 enrollment fell.

“Five years ago, in April 2021, in the midst of a pandemic, I came home to serve this district — the district where I grew up, where I am raising my children, and where my family’s story has always been intertwined,” Dorland wrote in her letter. “From the outset, my commitment was to bring stability to a system that had experienced significant turnover and disruption and to position Jeffco for a stronger, more sustainable future.”

Jeffco Public Schools has faced other difficulties in recent years, including the investigation of a high-level administrator for purchasing child sexual abuse material and last year’s shooting at Evergreen High School.

The district’s teachers union unanimously voted “no confidence” in Dorland last year, a move the said was taken because of the superintendent’s failure to address school safety concerns and making decisions “behind closed doors.”

The Board of Education said in a letter to families that members will identify an interim superintendent who can lead the district after Dorland leaves. The board also will launch a national search for a new superintendent, directors wrote.

“Over the past five years, (Dorland) has led the district through a period of significant challenge and change, bringing stability and a clear focus on students,” the board wrote in a statement. “Under her leadership, the district has taken on complex and often difficult work to better align resources, strengthen academic outcomes, and position Jeffco for the future.”

Dorland is the second superintendent to resign from one of Colorado’s largest school districts this year. Christopher Smith, who led Cherry Creek Schools, abruptly stepped down in January.

An amendment to tighten the restricted varsity eligibility for transfers failed, while amendments on clarifying the definition of recruiting and contact with non-high school students both passed by significant margins.

, brought forth by Jeffco Public Schools, would have adjusted the 365-day ineligibility window for transfers who do not meet the definitions of hardship or bona fide move. It would have changed the start of the 365-day clock from the first date of non-participation to the date of the previous state championship game in that athlete’s sport(s).

This was aimed at closing a current loophole that some athletes are exploiting in order to be eligible for the state playoffs.

For example, an athlete with restricted eligibility (which is typically given for regular-season participation to seniors) can transfer and be eligible at his/her new school for the playoffs, if his/her previous school’s season ended at the conclusion of the regular season or early in the playoffs in the year prior.

ADM-3 failed by a vote of 50-22. Both Cherry Creek School District athletic director Larry Bull and Poudre School District athletic director Brandon Carlucci said that while they believe the premise of the amendment is correct, they would like to see it fine-tuned.

“The concept makes sense, because you don’t want a kid leaving junior year from a team that doesn’t make the playoffs, then he/she gets restricted varsity eligibility and can play in the playoffs (after the 365-day clock expires),” Bull said. “We want kids to play, but we want to keep it fair for the membership.”

Carlucci added he believes it’s important the 365-day clock start is addressed because there is a worry among athletic directors in the state that the rule as currently written has the potential to incentivize quitting.

“A question we posed in our outreach (meeting) was, ‘When should a student-athlete regain eligibility at a new school if they had participated and/or participated and quit at their former school?'” Carlucci said. “… In the case of a kid who’s a junior and thinks, ‘I know this team’s not going to make the playoffs, so if I quit now, I can transfer, sit out my 365 and be eligible for the second half of next year, and the playoffs.”

Carlucci pointed out an issue with the wording of ADM-3 is that the scheduling of state tournaments can sometimes shift. If the basketball title game is March 9 one year (as it was in ), but then March 15 the next (as it was in ), that gap would grant eligibility to play in the final games of the tournament under ADM-3.

That detail is one reason why the amendment failed, but Carlucci hopes to see a more refined proposal brought back to the floor of the next Legislative Council session in the winter.

“(Wednesday’s) proposal has sparked a larger conversation within the membership, drawing attention to the fact that there’s an issue with our bylaws and a potential loophole as it pertains to restricted eligibility,'” Carlucci said.

, brought forth by the CHSAA Board of Directors, more clearly defines recruiting and sets stricter parameters on what is considered acceptable contact. It adds a definition to the recruiting bylaw on a prospective student, which is a student who attends a high school’s feeder elementary or middle school or students who have pre-registered to attend that high school.

By the passage of ADM-4, recruiting is now defined as soliciting or encouraging a student other than a prospective student “to enroll in a school in order to secure that student’s participation in an interscholastic athletic program.” ADM-4 passed with a 46-26 vote.

, also brought forth by the Board of Directors, changed the title of 1900.5 from Eighth Grade Contact to Non-High School Student Contact. It rewrote Bylaw 1900.5 to allow informational nights/open house events showcasing athletic programs to all non-high school aged and high school aged students. It also stipulated coaches can have sport-specific informational meetings with prospective students.

Outside of those informational nights, “individuals representing the school — other than school administrators — are prohibited from meeting/communicating with non-prospective students/families about their school’s athletic programs.” The revised bylaw opens up the permissible contact from the school’s attendance area to the school’s entire district area.

Carlucci wants to see further dialogue on the entirety of Bylaw 1900, which outlines recruiting.

“I would still love to see stronger language around specific types of contact from coaches,” Carlucci said. “Can coaches make calls (to non-high school students)? Can coaches send emails? Can coaches meet with families? Can an out-of-area player attend a sport-specific meeting at a school?

“I think we can better define what coaches can and cannot do regarding recruitment and the promotion of their programs. Because right now some of the language is unclear, which makes it extremely hard to enforce.”

In addition to those amendments on transfer eligibility and recruiting on Wednesday, CHSAA commissioner Mike Krueger also addressed the issue of fan behavior at association games and events.

Krueger noted that he had “moments of frustration” when attending CHSAA’s winter sports championships and witnessing what he believes is unacceptable behavior by spectators.

“There are times when what we say and what we see do not align, and that is something we need to address,” Krueger said in the meeting’s opening statement. “The environment at our events should reflect the very values we are trying to instill in our participants… We need to expect more, model more and hold ourselves accountable to that standard. The truth is, we have more work to do.”

ADM-7, which added specific guidelines for dealing with unruly fans, passed via a 57-15 vote.

It added steps to Bylaw 2240, including the ability for school administration to give warnings to spectators, and also eject them. Individuals who have been ejected will be suspended from a minimum of the next game, and a school’s principal can extend that suspension up to an indefinite period of time. Any fan who is ejected from more than one game in a single school year will be barred from attending any high school events for the remainder of the school year.