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Denver Public Schools’ superintendent and school board president allege that Vice President Monica Hunter used derogatory language when referring to a Jewish board member, according to statements they wrote that Chalkbeat obtained in a public records request.
Board President Xóchitl Gaytán alleged in her statement that Hunter, upon learning in December she was to be seated next to board member Amy Klein Molk during meetings, said something to the effect of, “I’m not sitting next to that racist Zionist bitch,” the records show.
Superintendent Alex Marrero in his statement alleged that Hunter referred to Klein Molk as a “Zionist b...” in a one-on-one conversation with him, also in reference to seat assignments.
Hunter denied the allegations in an interview with Chalkbeat on Tuesday.
“I absolutely don’t talk like that and would never say that about her,” Hunter said of Klein Molk.
The documents released Tuesday provide details from Gaytán and Marrero about allegations that had previously only been described in general terms. The statements are first-person recollections, not part of an independent investigation.
The allegation that Hunter used antisemitic language is arguably the most serious of a slew of accusations that Gaytán levied against Hunter and board member DJ Torres earlier this month. After an initial discussion last week, the board is scheduled to discuss the topic again on Thursday. The agenda shows the board could authorize a formal investigation, as Hunter and Torres have called for, or it could take other action, including a potential censure vote.
Gaytán told the board that she would put evidence in support of the allegations in a digital folder for members to review before Thursday. The records show that the folder contains more than 60 documents, including screenshots of text messages and emails between board members accusing each other of various policy violations.
The allegations and their aftermath are the kind of interpersonal conflict that has vexed the Denver school board on and off for years.
In an interview, Hunter questioned not only the truthfulness but the timing of Gaytán and Marrero’s allegations. Hunter was among the board members who recently pushed to discuss Marrero’s employment after he expressed frustration with the board and applied for other jobs.
“This is them calculating retaliation,” Hunter said.
Gaytán and Marrero declined to comment Tuesday.
Klein Molk said in an interview that she wants peace.
“Peace is finding a place where everybody can coexist with all of their beauty and differences … because we’re so much stronger when we’re together,” she said. “We are so much more aligned than we are divided, and we just need to get back to that place.”
Klein Molk said she does not describe herself as a Zionist. The term refers to someone who supports the existence of a Jewish state in Israel. “Zionist” is sometimes used as a pejorative, although the term itself is not inherently derogatory.
“We can debate Zionism,” she said. “It’s not OK to use it as a derogatory term.”
Hunter said the allegation that she called Klein Molk a “racist Zionist bitch” in reference to the board seating arrangements is not true. Hunter said she was ill and hospitalized in December when Gaytán tried to call her about seating arrangements, and that the two didn’t speak about it. Hunter and Klein Molk were assigned to sit next to each other on the dais and still do.
Marrero’s statement does not include a date as to when Hunter allegedly referred to Klein Molk as a “Zionist b…” in a meeting with him. In a separate statement, Klein Molk said Marrero told her that it allegedly happened in January.
Hunter said in an interview that she never described Klein Molk in that way to Marrero. She said she and Marrero discussed student test scores at that January one-on-one meeting, and she expressed frustration with the lack of academic progress for Black and Latino students.
Marrero wrote that he told Gaytán about Hunter’s alleged remark “following the meeting.” But the statements indicate that neither Marrero nor Gaytán told Klein Molk about the alleged comments until August. In her statement, Klein Molk wrote that Marrero told her on Aug. 21 that Hunter had allegedly described her in January as a “white Zionist bitch,” which differs slightly from what Marrero wrote in his statement.
Klein Molk wrote that she “was not surprised given my past personal experience.”
In December, shortly after Hunter and Klein Molk were elected, Klein Molk wrote that Hunter allegedly asked her if she identified as a Zionist while the two were out to lunch at a Mexican restaurant following a day of onboarding meetings.
“I told her that I believe in the existence of an Israeli state and that I am a proud Jew,” Klein Molk wrote. “She responded that she could not understand how I, or Jewish people generally, could be ‘okay with the killing of innocent babies,’ and said she personally could never be okay with that, and therefore could never support Israel or Jewish people who support Israel’s existence.”
Hunter said she recalls the December lunch with Klein Molk. Both Hunter and Klein Molk said in interviews that they were discussing candidate endorsements by Colorado’s Working Families Party. Klein Molk said she sought the endorsement but didn’t receive it. Other progressive Democratic Jewish candidates didn’t, either.
Hunter said she expressed her opinion about the Israel-Palestine conflict, telling Klein Molk that she couldn’t justify the killing of children. Hunter said she viewed the exchange as “a private conversation about fundamental values that is now being exploited.”
Klein Molk said the conversation was hurtful.
“Never in a million years did I think signing up to be on the Denver school board would mean being interrogated by anyone on my political beliefs or my geopolitical beliefs,” she said.
“This takes a tremendous toll not only on me, but on my children,” said Klein Molk, who is a mother of two. ”It’s a lot to ask of someone when you’re just trying to do the work. And we have got to stop this nonsense and get back to the work.”
Melanie Asmar is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Colorado. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org.
