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Denver school board members said Wednesday that they were heartbroken, disappointed, and discouraged by what they perceived as member John Youngquist not accepting accountability for his behavior toward school district staff of color.
“I don’t hear any acknowledgement in your words,” board Vice President Marlene De La Rosa said to Youngquist at a public meeting to discuss the findings of an outside investigation into his behavior. “I thought that I knew you to be a different person than that.”
But the board did not censure Youngquist. Board President Carrie Olson said members will address the issue again on Nov. 13, at which time they could decide to vote on a censure.
The purpose of Wednesday’s meeting was to discuss the investigation’s findings that Youngquist more likely than not engaged in “belittling, dismissive, and condescending behavior” toward some DPS staff and exhibited bias in interactions with some district leaders of color.
The investigation, which included interviews with 28 people, was inconclusive on whether Youngquist’s behavior was deliberate.
The discussion happened less than a week before voters will decide the fate of four school board seats. Youngquist’s seat is not on the ballot. The longtime educator and former principal of Denver’s East High School was elected in 2023 to a four-year term.
Youngquist told his fellow board members that while he understands he has unconscious biases and can do better, the accusations that he treated staff of color poorly were “a personal and professional attack on me” meant to damage his credibility, in part because he will be a witness in at least one school safety-related lawsuit against Denver Public Schools.
“I will be undeterred to testify truthfully,” Youngquist said.
Youngquist noted that the investigation found no evidence of “overt racism,” such as the use of slurs. He said he offered to meet with two people who were reportedly offended by his behavior, but he doesn’t know who else felt that way because the report doesn’t include names. For that reason, Youngquist said, “a blanket level of accountability is not something that makes a great deal of sense to me.”
Board member Michelle Quattlebaum, who is Black, held back tears as she told Youngquist that while he may have meant well with his behavior, “that wasn’t the impact.”
“The person that causes the harm has the responsibility and the duty to repair that harm,” Quattlebaum said. “And what breaks my heart is I didn’t hear accountability. And if there’s not accountability, restoration cannot happen.”
Board member Xóchitl “Sochi” Gaytán, who is Latina, said white people rarely have to be accountable for the harm they cause. Youngquist is white.
“I believe that white people never learn, never had to, never will have to unless they choose to, bear witness to the pain that people of color deal with due to the racism, biases, and microaggressions that impact us,” Gaytán said.
No board members rejected the findings of the investigation. But member Kimberlee Sia said the report included “mixed perspectives from staff and other witnesses who did experience inappropriate conduct and others who did not have the same experience.”
Sia said the report is an opportunity for the board to strengthen how it poses questions so members can “get better at asking and receiving tough questions and tough answers.”
The 29-page investigative report by the Denver law firm Garnett Powell Maximon Barlow & Farbes describes Youngquist as a board member who feels it’s his responsibility to ask questions.
“Mr. Youngquist described himself as interested in ensuring transparency and engaging critically at a level that allows him as a board member to understand what is going on, question what results mean, and not just be ‘responsive to and led by the superintendent,’” the report says.
The board first raised concerns about Youngquist’s behavior in December, when three board members accused him of “behavior unbecoming of a board member towards DPS staff.” Youngquist’s fellow board members chastised him for that behavior at a public meeting in January, but did not disclose details of what he was alleged to have done.
In April, Superintendent Alex Marrero wrote a letter to board President Carrie Olson asking that the board censure Youngquist. Marrero accused Youngquist of “belittling, dismissive, and condescending behavior toward district staff, especially employees of color,” among other allegations.
Marrero said Youngquist’s behavior “aligns with someone who is threatened by diverse leadership and equity-centered progress.” Marrero, who is Afro-Latino, wrote that Youngquist has “an obsession” with removing him as superintendent.
Youngquist has said that he does not want to be superintendent. He applied once, in 2021, and did not get the position. Marrero was hired instead.
In May, the board ordered an investigation into the allegations against Youngquist.
Several witnesses told investigators that Youngquist addresses staff of color in a “‘nice nasty’ tone” and implies that they don’t know how to do their jobs, the report says.
Witnesses also said Youngquist ignores staff of color, cancels meetings with them, or raises his voice when speaking with them. One board member said Youngquist “immediately goes to a place of distrust instead of professional courtesy,” the report says.
Youngquist said in a statement Monday that the investigation was retaliatory and he intends “to take legal action at the appropriate time.”
The board last investigated one of its own members in 2021. The board censured then-member Auon’tai Anderson after the investigation found he flirted with a student on social media and made posts that could be perceived as intimidating to witnesses in the investigation.
Melanie Asmar is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Colorado. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org.
