The Denver Public Schools Board of Education voted UNANIMOUSLY to dismiss French teacher Jennifer Honka. Honka, who taught at Northeast Early College high school, reportedly made female students kiss each other during classroom skits and graded them on their performance. The board’s 7-0 decision came after an administrative law judge ruled that Honka’s “choice of script forced [students] to express their preferences and consent about a very personal and sexualized activity on the spot in front of their peers.” The judge found this amounted to “incompetence and neglect of duty.”
Honka ran bi-weekly skits as graded assignments in her French Language and Culture class. Part of students’ grades depended on how they performed these skits, which included same-gender kissing scenarios. One student who refused to participate testified she received a zero on the assignment. Students told other teachers they felt pressured and uncomfortable being forced to engage in these highly personal and sexualized role-plays in front of classmates. Honka reportedly enforced a classroom policy that “the answer is always ‘yes’ in this class.” The judge rejected her claim that students could simply opt out without consequence, noting the inherent power imbalance: a teacher directing minors to perform intimate acts while controlling their grades.
