20 hours Ago By Jimmy Sengenberger
For over two decades, Kyle Walpole taught in the Jefferson County and Platte Canyon school districts, building a career around guiding students, fellow staff and shaping curriculum. But when he applied for an online teaching position at the Jeffco district’s Jefferson Virtual Academy, he hit “a brick wall.” At first, things seemed optimistic.
Hiring committee emails called him “a great one.” He was a registered substitute teacher in Jeffco, and he seemingly nailed the interview and two “performance tasks.” Then came an enthusiastic voicemail from Principal Renee Williams at 1:28 PM on Nov.
15: “We really loved your interview with me. I’d like to talk to you more about the job so this is my personal cell phone..
.hopefully we can touch base today.” It sounded very promising — and felt like a job offer.
Unbeknownst to Walpole, 17 minutes later, things started changing. School registrar Rachel Lloyd emailed business manager Terrie Sklenar with a curious subject line — “:)” — and a single link to a page on the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition’s website..
. about Kyle Walpole. In 2014, with the legal transparency organization’s support, he used open records laws to identify teachers who walked out of his daughter’s school to protest a conservative school board.
Two minutes later, another email — subject line “!” — linked to Walpole’s 2021 op-ed criticizing how DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) was being implemented in schools. That article, he told me, reflected his drive to “put your political beliefs aside” in education, a value inspired by an Adams State professor. Walpole eagerly called Williams back at 2:45, leaving a voicemail.
No response. Instead, Sklenar assigned another, time-consuming task that Walpole says was never reviewed, citing Google Drive metadata. Finally, on Nov.
20, he got an email from Williams stating they’d decided “to pursue other candidates.” Walpole was stunned. “I’m curious as to what changed your mind as you wanted to discuss the job last Friday and I returned your call,” he inquired.
No reply. Ditto for his Nov. 26 follow-up.
“It was like a brick wall,” Walpole recalled. “Nobody responded to any of my inquiries.” So, he submitted several Colorado open records requests.
That’s when the missing pieces emerged, including the emails about his political activism. “Once I received the evidence, it was pretty clear that I was being denied the position based on my political beliefs,” Walpole said. “The timeline is unequivocal.
” Around Thanksgiving, he filed a discrimination complaint. The district quickly “called off” the investigation because they’d determined he wasn’t in a “protected class” — which the HR investigator cheerfully dubbed “Good news!” Last week, Walpole resigned as a substitute teacher, deciding he no longer wanted to work for a district “so callous to discriminate against me for a full-time position.” On Dec.
23, Walpole sent a Notice of Intent to Sue, copying longtime friend William Eigles, an attorney. A follow-up letter to Jeffco’s chief legal counsel, Julie Tolleson, demanding the investigation resume went unanswered. Both letters alleged violations of district policies and state law against discrimination and retaliation.
Communications appeared one-sided until mid-January, when Eigles and Tolleson began corresponding. When I emailed Tolleson last Friday about this matter, her response felt deflective. She asserted the district already addressed my questions with Walpole and Eigles and declined to “dive into factual detail” due to the potential lawsuit.
She referred me to associate chief of communications, Kimberly Mahugh, who hasn’t responded despite being copied on that email. “In the meantime,” Tolleson closed, “I’d encourage you to see if Mr. Walpole will share my communications with his counsel, which may clear up some of the factual misunderstandings below.
” Her suggestion backfired. Tolleson’s exchange with the meticulous Eigles “cleared up” the facts — by exposing inconsistencies that bolstered Walpole’s account. She claimed the district redistributed the workload among existing staff, deciding a mid-year hire for a temporary role had become impractical.
But this doesn’t add up. Internal HR emails show the position wasn’t officially canceled until December 9 — weeks after Walpole was rejected “to pursue other candidates.” If logistics were the real issue, why was he still being considered until politically charged emails surfaced? Tolleson also insisted she didn’t “even know if any of the decision makers was aware” of Walpole’s history.
This rings hollow. Sklenar — who handled candidate communications, assigned Walpole’s superfluous performance task and worked with the hiring committee — received those very emails. And while Tolleson claimed Walpole lacked “any monetary demand,” his December notice of intent to sue explicitly listed $30,000 in damages.
Let’s be real: Is Tolleson playing coy — or did she just not do her homework? Walpole says he “never represented” Eigles as his attorney; he’s a good friend who helped him out. Now, Walpole is considering legal counsel for a lawsuit. While political discrimination isn’t prohibited by law, both statute and district policy forbid retaliation against those who participated in official proceedings — like Walpole’s 2014 records requests, which contributed to legal rulings about teacher absence records.
If he can prove retaliation for that, he might have a case. Either way, the record reeks of political bias — if not retaliation — against a veteran teacher, sidelined over politics rather than merit. And let’s be honest: When the top lawyer for Colorado’s second-largest school district fumbles facts while deflecting discrimination claims, it’s not just a bad look — it signals a deeper question.
Are qualified teachers being screened out for their political views? Jimmy Sengenberger is an investigative journalist, public speaker, and longtime local talk-radio host. Reach Jimmy online at Jimmysengenberger.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @SengCenter.
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