By Jimmy Sengenberger | Colorado Springs Gazette
When Jefferson County Schools fired Chief of Schools David Weiss in December after learning he was being investigated for child pornography, the district spiraled into crisis mode. The situation deteriorated after Weiss died by suicide over New Year’s, with families learning about the allegations through media reports.
Recently obtained text messages now reveal a district in disarray — defensive, self-focused, and scrambling behind the scenes while keeping parents in the dark. Dozens of pages of text exchanges, uncovered by the parent group Jeffco Kids First through open records requests, expose frantic damage control after Weiss’s termination — skirting open meetings laws by often grouping two board members with district leaders.
They worked to control media inquiries through associate communications chief Kimberly Mahugh and discussed possibly holding a closed-door executive session. Attorney Julie Tolleson warned against it — not for transparency’s sake, but because “if we had an improper executive session, the media could get a court order for access to the recording,” adding “a new crisis… to an already horrible one.” Not exactly a ringing endorsement of open government.
Most damning are text messages confirming Jeffco’s first message to families — on Jan. 2, two weeks after Weiss’s termination — was calculated. While publicly dismissing the Weiss allegations as a “personal legal issue,” leadership privately micromanaged their response to minimize institutional discomfort and exposure.