The Jefferson County Public Schools’ board of education met behind closed doors on Tuesday afternoon to discuss Superintendent Tracy Dorland’s contract a week after the district’s teachers union called for a change in leadership and the U.S. Department of Education began investigating the district.

The five-person board met with its attorney for over two hours for “the purpose of receiving legal advice regarding the board’s legal rights and obligations under the Superintendent Contract dated April 19, 2021 as amended,” according to the board’s online agenda. 

The executive session showed up on the board’s agenda late last week after the members met in another session last Thursday afternoon to discuss a mid-year evaluation of Dorland. 

The Jefferson County Education Association (JCEA) also sent a four-page letter to the school board on May 27, announcing a vote of no confidence in the superintendent’s leadership. 

“Superintendent Dorland’s continued leadership has exacerbated tensions, widened the gap between decision-makers and stakeholders, and damaged the district’s credibility with employees and the broader community,” the union said. 

In a response to the letter sent by the union, Dorland acknowledged that she needs to build trust with the union — through communicating with leaders and the community. She said she will continue to listen.

“I remain deeply committed to leading Jeffco in a way that provides stable leadership, supports students, values our workforce, and honors the voices of all our stakeholders,” she wrote. “And while we need to listen and collaborate on important issues facing our district, we cannot allow our district to be paralyzed and stagnant. Our students need brave, courageous leaders, who are willing to work across our diverse community to actualize improvements to our students’ experiences; I am that leader.”

The next day, on May 28, Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer told board President Mary Parker that the district has sought to inoculate itself, instead of protecting students.

“From the tragic high profile case of the chief of schools — whose misconduct was allowed to continue until his death — to a series of incidents where individuals accused of wrongdoing were permitted to resign quietly or be transferred rather than held accountable, this district has repeatedly chosen to protect itself instead of protecting students,” Kirkmeyer said.

On Monday, the U.S. Department of Education also announced that it informed Dorland that it is initiating a Title IX investigation into the district’s policy that students will be “assigned to share overnight accommodations with other students that share a student’s ‘gender identity.'” 

The agency’s news release shared an example in which the parents of an 11-year-old girl allegedly discovered their daughter would have had to share a bed with a male student on an overnight school trip without being notified by the school.

The district told The Denver Gazette in response there is nothing in the  language of Title IX that prohibits the degree of protection that the State of Colorado provides, pointing to Colorado’s Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA) Rule 81.9–Gender-Segregated Facilities.

Ultimately, the schoolboard did not make a decision on Dorland’s future with the district following the executive meeting on Tuesday.

The scrutiny over Dorland’s tenure, raised by both Kirkmeyer and the union, involved the recent six sexual misconduct-related incidents throughout the district since the end of 2023.

In April, parents from Jeffco Kids First claimed it uncovered 26 total cases of sexual abuse, misconduct, grooming, hiring, firing and reporting issues since 2022 in the district.

Kirkmeyer called it a “culture that allows misconduct to be ignored, minimized or hidden must be dismantled.”

The union’s complaint dealt with Dorland’s alleged lack of communication with the community regarding the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office investigation into David Weiss, the school district’s former chief of schools, that involved possession of child sexual assault material in December, according to the letter from the teachers’ association.

Weiss took over the position at the start of 2022, which is when the list of misconduct issues compiled by Jeffco Kids First started.

The chief of school’s responsibilities include overseeing and increasing student achievement, quality school leadership and school effectiveness for Jefferson County’s schools and communities, according to the district’s website.

An email obtained by The Denver Gazette showed that Weiss oversaw an adult sexual misconduct training for Jeffco employees in December 2024, just a few days before he was terminated. 

Furthermore, the union claimed that Dorland has failed to communicate with the community and stakeholders, presented health care changes to the board of education before the Benefits Advisory Committee made a recommendation, removed books from school libraries without adherence to district protocol or board policies, changed policies around pronouns in email signatures without input and does not provide sufficient mental health support to students and staff, among other claims.

One of the main complaints in the union’s letter included the lack of student safety at schools under Dorland’s leadership.

Two examples included a student reportedly vomiting blood and an administrator refusing to allow the clinic aide and school nurse to call 911 at Ralston Valley High School and parents and staff raising concerns about staff and students being routinely harmed at Mitchell Elementary without proper response.

Allegedly, when the latter issues were raised by an educator in a meeting with Dorland, the teacher was yelled at, according to the letter.

Meanwhile, in a letter on April 17, Jeffco Education Support Professionals Association (JESPA) claimed a lack of addressing sexual misconduct throughout the district, even among coworkers.  

According to JESPA, employees have reported sexual misconduct from peers but were told “it didn’t happen” unless there was a witness. 

Also, employees accused of harassing students or coworkers are quietly allowed to resign, preserving a clean record they can carry to another district, JESPA said.

“We’ve filed grievances, called for investigations, and challenged administrative decisions in hearings — only to face resistance and stonewalling,” JESPA said in the letter, claiming there is a culture of fear and retaliation amongst the district.

“Superintendent Dorland’s approach has repeatedly undermined trust, destabilized our schools, and diverted valuable time and resources away from classrooms,” JCEA said in its letter. “Her leadership style is fundamentally misaligned with the values our community expects and our students deserve.”

Dorland’s salary and benefits have also been under scrutiny.

When Dorland began at the second-largest school district in Colorado in April 2021, her salary stood at $260,000. 

Dorland’s salary for the 2024-25 school year rose to $300,770, including healthcare benefits, retirement, a car allowance, a laptop and a phone.

In August 2024, Dorland began negotiating a higher salary with the board. Her contract is not up till 2027, JCEA told The Denver Gazette.

JCEA organized a letter-writing campaign to the board at the end of last year, questioning the timing of the negations as school districts face potential funding cuts from the state.

Mary Parker, the schoolboard’s president, responded to JCEA’s campaign by saying the board asked legal council for comparisons on other district’s salaries and compensation packages when discussing the raise.

That pay raise request has not been voted upon.

“Adequately compensating all Jeffco staff, from part-time workers all the way up to the Superintendent has been a high priority for this board,” Parker said.

The average Jeffco teacher made $71,972 for the 2022-23 school year, according to the Colorado Department of Education.

“Colorado funds its schools $2,000 to $3,000 less per student than the national average,” Paula Reed, a member of the schoolboard, said during a December board meeting, adding that 87% of the district’s budget is already allocated to salaries and compensation.