As six members of the DPS board filed into its monthly meeting Sept. 17, a palpable air of angst was in the air. The board was slated to address the awkward dynamic over allegations that one board member, Monica Hunter, had made a blatantly anti-Semitic remark about fellow board member Amy Klein Molk, who is Jewish.
Allegedly, Hunter called Molk a “racist, Zionist [expletive].”
Hunter entered the board room wearing a shirt that read, “Black Women Will Not Be Silenced.”
Molk and Hunter sat right next to each other during board meetings. Neither made eye contact with each other.
The board authorized a formal investigation into Hunter’s alleged comment, and will search for an outside legal firm to conduct that investigation.
The vote came after hearing from Denver residents during a public speaking session.
“A Jewish director whose public work has nothing to do with Israel is defined by it simply because she is Jewish,” said Brandon Rattiner, head of the JCRC.
Said Dr. Joyce Brooks:
“Such a personal issue should be resolved and handled in private as a team. Each of you is responsible to ensure privacy of such matters. If you don’t, you weaken your teamwork. You’ve been working together now several months. You should have gelled as a team.
“Please end this inquisition. Take care of it behind closed doors and do the work we have elected you to do.”
Rattiner had more to say:
“Her [Molk’s] Jewishness becomes grounds to blame her for a war she does not control and to license to demean, bully and exclude her in ways we should recognize as unacceptable.
“The specifics of this allegation aside, this pattern is everywhere. Our Jewish community is watching to see whether the adults responsible for educating our kids about living in a pluralistic multiracial democracy can do better.
“What our community needs now is not another round of accusations or investigations or another example of anti-Semitism being used to score political points. We need to know that Jews . . . are safe, welcome and fully part of DPS.”
Said resident and former DPS teacher and administrator Vernon Jones, Jr.: “A divided house cannot stand, and a divided house cannot keep promises to kids. Divided by accusations, divided by mistrust, divided by questions about process and power and relationships and accountability.
“Let me be clear. Anti-Semitism has no place in this house. Racism, hatred, discrimination have no place in this house.”
Only a few of the 15 speakers took the position of either Molk or Hunter.
It was obvious that Molk had pent-up emotions she wanted to share with board members before the vote to ratify an investigation.
“I have been hurt by insults and judgment about me because of who I am and because of the pain and conflict surrounding Gaza and Israel,” Molk said.
“So as we move into difficult conversations tonight, I am asking every one of us to listen with curiosity, with courage, and with compassion. Let us show our children that we can disagree without becoming divided.
“We do not want to continue being a divided house.”
While the board voted to approve an independent investigation into Hunter’s alleged remark, it was apparent that the board is, indeed, a divided house.
As a sub-plot to the Hunter-Molk issue, the board is deeply split on whether to take action against Hunter and fellow board member D.J. Torres, for what board president Xochitl Gaytan calls a failure by Hunter and Torres to fulfill their duties as directors.
On the latter, a variety of motions were voted upon, only for some directors to question something regarding a vote the board had already taken. For a moment, there was no universal board understanding of what the board had, or had not, done.
Molk said:
“In order to serve our kids, we have to be a fully functioning body, and we are not that right now. And I have very serious concerns around the way conduct has been handled. We need to have a conversation, at minimum. I am not comfortable moving forward without having a conversation. We keep on skirting around these conversations.”
The board meeting ended abruptly, five hours after it started. A few directors were visibly stunned with the manner in which the discussions ended.
Both Molk and Hunter exited quickly, without comment.
The IJN reached out to both directors the next day. Hunter did not respond. Molk told the IJN:
“I am centered on the responsibility that all board members share to Denver’s students and the example set for young people. I choose to listen. I choose hope.”
When asked by the IJN about the gravity of the allegations and the difficulty to navigate the board dysfunction, Molk said:
“This has been deeply personal for myself and my family. I’m hurt by insults and judgment directed at me because of who I am, including my identity as a Jewish woman.
“I believe the gravity of this moment extends beyond myself personally. As an elected official and as a mom, I am focused on how adults model disagreement for students.”
Perhaps one of the public speakers, five hours earlier, Grace Goodman, summed up this messaging to the directors:
“Your words matter,” said Goodman. “It is easy to see that this rot comes from the top.
“But here’s what matters most. Every minute this board spends on this is a minute not spent on all kids. It’s hundreds of thousands of dollars that could have done immeasurable good thrown away.
“This isn’t a distraction from your job. It is a failure of your job.”
© IJN 2026
