{"id":3142,"date":"2026-07-28T21:33:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T21:33:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3142"},"modified":"2026-07-28T21:33:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T21:33:11","slug":"trump-administration-investigates-dps-over-accusation-teacher-made-students-kiss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3142","title":{"rendered":"Trump administration investigates DPS over accusation teacher made students kiss"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready…<\/strong><\/div>\n
\n

The U.S. Department of Education is investigating Denver Public Schools for the second time in less than two years after a teacher was accused of making female students kiss each other in class, the agency announced Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The agency said it is specifically looking into whether the incident, which occurred at Northeast Early College, violated a federal law regarding parents\u2019 rights as well as Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. <\/p>\n

DPS, the state\u2019s largest K-12 system, fired the French teacher earlier this year after students alleged she made them participate in skits that called for teenagers to kiss one another and shared what a judge called \u201csensitive and potentially traumatizing information\u201d in class. The judge determined DPS had sufficient evidence to terminate Jennifer Honka\u2019s employment for cause. <\/p>\n

District spokesman Scott Pribble said DPS just received notice about the investigation Tuesday and that \u201cit would be too early to comment\u201d on the allegations levied against the district.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe safety, emotional well-being, and dignity of our students are the absolute highest priorities of DPS,\u201d he said in a statement. \u201cOur actions to date have been wholly consistent with those priorities. Immediately after learning of student concerns with this teacher in March 2025, the district placed the teacher on administrative leave and completed a thorough investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Education Department said its Student Privacy Policy Office is investigating whether the incident violated the federal\u00a0Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment, which gives parents the ability to opt out of surveys or questionnaires that ask students sensitive information about their families.<\/p>\n

The agency\u2019s Office of Civil Rights will also determine whether the incident violated Title IX, which was created to ensure women and girls can participate in school activities without harassment.<\/p>\n

In a statement, Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey said DPS allegedly \u201ccompelled the sexual assault of minor students by forcing them to engage in blatantly sexualized conduct in class.\u201d \t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cIt is abhorrent and the Trump Administration will fully investigate this perverse incident to protect students\u2019 safety and vigorously uphold students\u2019 rights across America,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

The new investigation is part of the Trump administration\u2019s nationwide crackdown on K-12 systems with policies that support transgender students and other members of the LGBTQ community. The federal government has repeatedly threatened to pull federal funding from school districts with policies that it calls discriminatory, and said Tuesday that the Education Department is announcing several investigations \u2014 such as the one into DPS \u2014\u00a0 and other actions against school districts this week in recognition of \u201cNational Parents\u2019 Day,\u201d which was on Sunday, according to the news release. <\/p>\n

The Education Department has launched three other investigations into Colorado school districts since President Donald Trump resumed office last year. The agency accused DPS last year of discriminating against girls by creating an all-gender bathroom at East High School, but hasn\u2019t followed up with the district \u2014 which defied orders to remove the facilities \u2014 on the case in months. More recently, the Office of Civil Rights began investigating Cherry Creek Schools for what it called \u201ca wide range of racially discriminatory programming,\u201d including clubs that allegedly exclude students based on their race. <\/p>\n

The agency has been\u00a0most aggressive in pursuing its investigation against Jeffco Public Schools, which the Education Department alleges discriminated against girls by allowing transgender students to compete in female sports and access female facilities. The department gave Jeffco Public Schools 10 days to agree to a proposed resolution \u2014 including reversing policies that allow transgender students to play sports \u2014 or risk losing federal funding. The district has called the Education Department\u2019s claims \u201cerroneous\u201d and is preparing for a legal fight to protect the tens of millions of dollars that might be pulled. \t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

DPS placed Honka on leave last year after an investigation into the allegations against the teacher. The educator, who is gay, accused DPS of discriminating against her because of her sexual orientation and appealed her termination, according to a court document. The case went before a judge who ruled in April that DPS could fire the teacher for incompetence and neglect of duty. <\/p>\n

Students made other allegations against Honka before her termination, including that she told them that her son was conceived using sperm from one of her aunt\u2019s husbands and described her own suicidal ideation in class.<\/p>\n

Get more Colorado news by signing up for our Mile High Roundup email newsletter.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Read more History Colorado denounces federal draft rule concerning U.S. historic sites<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Read more Suncor\u2019s Commerce City refinery emits black smoke after maintenance<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Read more Kentucky governor demands that McConnell prove he is fit to serve or resign<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The U.S. Department of Education is investigating Denver Public Schools after a teacher, Jennifer Honka, was accused of making female students kiss each other in class.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3141,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nTrump administration investigates DPS over accusation teacher made students kiss - Colorado Springs Moverss<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3142\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump administration investigates DPS over accusation teacher made students kiss - Colorado Springs Moverss\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The U.S. Department of Education is investigating Denver Public Schools after a teacher, Jennifer Honka, was accused of making female students kiss each other in class.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3142\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colorado Springs Moverss\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-28T21:33:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=3142#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=3142\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4857af3bff7f66cee0c97667a8e70c1c\"},\"headline\":\"Trump administration investigates DPS over accusation teacher made students kiss\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-28T21:33:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=3142\"},\"wordCount\":786,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=3142#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/374cd80006da40dcd9a43fb36e320307-scaled.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Education\",\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=3142#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=3142\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=3142\",\"name\":\"Trump administration investigates DPS over accusation teacher made students kiss - Colorado Springs Moverss\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=3142#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=3142#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/374cd80006da40dcd9a43fb36e320307-scaled.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-28T21:33:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4857af3bff7f66cee0c97667a8e70c1c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=3142#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=3142\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=3142#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/374cd80006da40dcd9a43fb36e320307-scaled.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/374cd80006da40dcd9a43fb36e320307-scaled.webp\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1730},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=3142#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Trump administration investigates DPS over accusation teacher made students kiss\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Colorado Springs Moverss\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4857af3bff7f66cee0c97667a8e70c1c\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Trump administration investigates DPS over accusation teacher made students kiss - Colorado Springs Moverss","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3142","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Trump administration investigates DPS over accusation teacher made students kiss - Colorado Springs Moverss","og_description":"The U.S. Department of Education is investigating Denver Public Schools after a teacher, Jennifer Honka, was accused of making female students kiss each other in class.","og_url":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3142","og_site_name":"Colorado Springs Moverss","article_published_time":"2026-07-28T21:33:11+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3142#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3142"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4857af3bff7f66cee0c97667a8e70c1c"},"headline":"Trump administration investigates DPS over accusation teacher made students kiss","datePublished":"2026-07-28T21:33:11+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3142"},"wordCount":786,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3142#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/374cd80006da40dcd9a43fb36e320307-scaled.webp","articleSection":["Education","News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3142#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3142","url":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3142","name":"Trump administration investigates DPS over accusation teacher made students kiss - Colorado Springs Moverss","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3142#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3142#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/374cd80006da40dcd9a43fb36e320307-scaled.webp","datePublished":"2026-07-28T21:33:11+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4857af3bff7f66cee0c97667a8e70c1c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3142#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3142"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3142#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/374cd80006da40dcd9a43fb36e320307-scaled.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/374cd80006da40dcd9a43fb36e320307-scaled.webp","width":2560,"height":1730},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3142#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Trump administration investigates DPS over accusation teacher made students kiss"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/","name":"Colorado Springs Moverss","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4857af3bff7f66cee0c97667a8e70c1c","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com"],"url":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3142\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}