Officials at one Colorado school district help student declare herself homeless before moving in with teacher
The Jefferson County School District is apologizing to the parents of a Columbine High School student after school officials helped the student lie on a federal form and then hid it from her parents so she could move in with a teacher.
According to investigators hired by the district, the student - a 17-year-old female - was involved in an inappropriate relationship with social studies teacher Leann Kearney. They say Kearney was "grooming" the girl.
Heather McCormick is friends with the girl's mom and says there were red flags long before the district hired investigators, "There's this icky feeling that something is wrong and as it progressed it only got worse. Not a single person stood up and said something doesn't seem right and reached out to the parents."
Instead, school emails obtained through an open records request show counselors purposefully kept the parents in the dark while they helped their daughter declare herself homeless so she could move in with a teacher.
"I think it's really scary that we can take teenagers - or children of any age - and say whatever you say is true and we're not going to investigate it. We're going to take big steps to declare you homeless without notifying the family."
While counselors helped the girl fill out the form, they say Columbine Principal Scott Christy also knew about the girl's plans and didn't tell her parents.
McCormick says the mom was cleaning her daughter's room when she stumbled upon the homeless document along with a letter describing her daughter kissing Kearney. She then uncovered thousands of calls and texts between the two.
She told investigators she sent Kearney a message warning her to stop contacting her daughter and then showed the principal all the calls and texts. She says he dismissed them telling her, "Ms. Kearney takes interest in helping kids navigate their sexuality".
McCormick says school officials would have reacted differently had Kearney been a male teacher. She quit, but it would take two years - and pressure from the mom - before she lost her teaching license.
McCormick says her friend lost far more. When her daughter turned 18, she moved out of state with the teacher, "It's really scary to think there are schools and teachers and administrators that are working behind your back and not in the best interest of your child."
Jeffco Public Schools says it conducted a thorough investigation and the principal cooperated fully. It released a statement saying, "Obviously, the student did not meet the criteria to be considered homeless and the staff involved in this isolated incident were addressed as part of the investigation as the proper channels in place were not followed.
While we have taken every step to remove this former employee from Jeffco and prevent her from working in another educational setting... we recognize this is of little comfort to the family.... we deeply regret how profoundly this violation has affected their family."
The school district says it also changed policies to ensure it doesn't happen again. McCormick says the mom wants more accountability for those involved, "If actions are not taken and if people are not held accountable, it will happen to someone else."
