Jeffco board member Fellman says she won’t seek re-election

Jill Fellman, half of the Jeffco Public Schools’ board minority, will not seek re-election this fall, she said in a statement Monday morning.

Her decision comes about two months after her fellow minority member Lesley Dahlkemper announced she would not seek re-election either.

“This decision has been a difficult one, coming after months of reflection,” Fellman said in her statement. “While I have dedicated the biggest part of my life to Jeffco Schools and my loyalties run deep, I also have to consider some personal priorities and do what’s best at this time for my family.”

Fellman spent nearly her entire life in Jeffco schools. She attended Patterson Elementary, Carmody Junior High and Alameda High School. After college, she returned to Jeffco to teach secondary math at Bear Creek High School and then at Moore Middle School.

She retired from Jeffco in 2009 as a director of Learning and Educational Achievement.

Fellman said part of her decision was based on the shift in board leadership after the 2013 election.

“I can acknowledge that the board’s current leadership does not share my vision for the board or the school district,” she said in her statement. “I believe the board, under current leadership, has failed to focus on what is best for our children’s education.”

Fellman’s and Dahlkemper’s decisions coupled with news of a potential recall of the three-member board majority puts the status of the Jefferson County Board of Education in a radical flux. If a recall effort is successful, all five board seats could be in play this November.