By Jen Schumann | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice
A Jefferson County teacher lost her license after an alleged grooming scandal involving a student at Columbine High School.
The more disturbing revelation? School officials allegedly not only failed to stop it, but facilitated a fraudulent federal declaration to help the student move in with another teacher — all without notifying her parents.
Leann Kearney, a social studies teacher at Columbine, allegedly engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a 17-year-old student, according to state investigators. The student’s mother discovered thousands of alleged calls and text messages between the two, including a letter detailing a kiss.
But rather than stepping in to protect the student, Jeffco school staff actively worked to classify the student as an “unaccompanied homeless youth” under the McKinney-Vento Act — a federal law designed to protect genuinely homeless students.
Jeffco Kids First, the parent-led organization founded by Lindsay Datko, was the first to uncover the alleged cover-up. Their advocacy efforts and viral press releases on Twitter/X recently led to international media coverage, including stories by The Daily Mail and New York Post.
“They knew she wasn’t homeless. She lived at home, her expenses were paid and she was on her parents’ taxes,” Datko said. “Yet school officials signed off on federal paperwork declaring her unaccompanied so she could move in with a teacher.”
Despite clear red flags, Principal Scott Christy and school counselors did not allegedly alert the parents. Instead, they allegedly encouraged the student’s removal from the home. The student was later found living with another Columbine teacher, while Kearney was deployed in the military, before ultimately relocating out of state to live with Kearney.
When the student’s mother confronted Christy with phone records and the letter, his response was chilling.
According to CBS Colorado’s investigative report by Shaun Boyd, Christy allegedly told the mother, “Ms. Kearney takes interest in helping kids navigate their sexuality.”
This case isn’t an isolated failure — it’s part of a broader crisis in Jeffco Schools’ mishandling of educator misconduct. A commentary by Rocky Mountain Voice founder Heidi Ganahl reveals a troubling pattern in Jeffco Schools and across Colorado, where school officials have rehired educators with histories of misconduct, failed to enforce background checks and ignored mandated reporting laws — leaving students vulnerable to abuse:
- A Creighton Middle School family liaison remained employed despite a two-year outstanding warrant — he was later arrested for allegedly molesting children in his office.
- A teacher allegedly resigned “in lieu of termination” over inappropriate student contact but was hired at another school without the new institution being informed.
- A Jeffco social worker, Chloe Castro, was accused of grooming and sexually assaulting a young boy, but remained employed despite a legal settlement.
These failures extend beyond Jeffco Schools. Across Colorado, teacher misconduct cases are piling up. In Steamboat Springs, a preschool teacher was arrested for child abuse, while in Montrose, a teacher faced charges for inappropriate communication with a teenage student.
Beyond failed oversight, policies like “trusted adults” initiatives allow teachers to step into parental roles without permission.
“Teachers have signage outside their doors where they can self-declare as ‘trusted adults’ without parental knowledge,” Datko said.
Jeffco’s “trusted adult” policy is just one example of how the district has systematically eroded parental rights, creating conditions that allow situations like the Kearney case to unfold. Teachers can build close, unchecked relationships with students without oversight from their parents, fostering secrecy in school environments where transparency should be paramount.
Datko and her organization have long fought against policies that replace parental authority with vague, district-controlled decision-making.
“Ultimately, that term is absolutely being used to replace the parents,” Datko emphasized. “And it’s a deliberate shift in school policies to prioritize external adult relationships over the child’s family.”
Jeffco Kids First, a parent-led advocacy group, has been instrumental in exposing this and other failures within the district.
Datko’s fight began during the pandemic, when she and other concerned parents started pushing back against school closures, lack of transparency and overreach in student policies. What started as a small group of engaged parents has grown into a movement of nearly 8,000 families and community members in Jefferson County.
“We started during the pandemic. We were concerned about schools closing, and we just started forming with some of our close friends. Now we’ve grown into something much bigger,” Datko said. “When parents come together, we can make change happen.”
Among Jeffco Kids First’s biggest achievements is forcing the resignation of Jeffco’s health director, removing harmful elements from the district’s transgender policies and preventing Jeffco from implementing gender identity surveys without parental consent.
On the Kearney scandal, Jeffco Kids First’s advocacy led to the exposure of the fraudulent homeless declaration and ensured that Kearney was stripped of her teaching license.
“We can say with full integrity that everything we’ve fought for has been about ensuring parents are involved in their children’s education,” Datko said. “The fight isn’t over yet.”
Datko offers parents a blueprint for fighting back against overreach and secrecy in schools. Her key advice? Learn how to use open records requests, stay vocal in school board meetings and demand transparency.
“We have had some obstacles. It takes experience to know when you have the right to something and that you need to push for it,” Datko said. “The first thing you can do is respond and ask for the statute that’s keeping them from giving information. Be specific in your requests. The more you know, the harder it is for them to hide things.”
Datko also encourages parents to build local coalitions.
“We are responding to a large outpouring from the community for the need for our work. When that need is no longer there, that’s when I’ll know we’ve done our job,” Datko said.
For parents who want safer schools, Datko’s message is simple: stay engaged, get informed and hold administrators accountable.
“The school board should be working for parents, not against them,” she said. “The only way to ensure that happens is to never stop watching.”