Superintendent Alex Marrero has asked Denver Public Schools’ Board of Education to censure director John Youngquist, alleging the former East High principal is gunning for his job and actively working against the district.
Marrero made the request in a scathing email to school board President Carrie Olson on April 22 in which he laid out numerous grievances against Youngquist, including accusations that the director has created a toxic work environment, undermined DPS leaders and showed racial insensitivity.
“His obsession with my removal, coupled with his private aspirations to assume district leadership, strongly suggests a conflict of interest,” Marrero wrote in the email, obtained by The Denver Post under the Colorado Open Records Act. “It is becoming increasingly clear that his actions are driven by a personal ambition to become superintendent himself, as he had previously pursued repeatedly, unsuccessfully.”
Youngquist, in an interview Monday, denied wanting Marrero’s job despite having applied for the superintendency after Susana Cordova resigned in 2020. Marrero was hired to replace Cordova the following year.
“I didn’t get the job. That was OK then and that’s OK now,” Youngquist said. “…It feels like a very clear personal attack, which I do not understand.”
“I have actively worked for every child in DPS to be successful for over 30 years,” he added. “Every decision I have made has been in support of children in Denver Public Schools.”
Bill Good, a spokesman for DPS, declined to comment for this story.
“We have not yet taken any action or made any decisions in relation to the complaint,” Olson said in an interview, noting that the school board will meet with an outside attorney.
Tensions between Youngquist, district staff and other school board members flared publicly earlier this year when the director faced allegations that he mistreated employees of color. Marrero’s email — obtained by The Denver Post through a public records request — shows the conflict has escalated.
“I cannot, in good faith, engage professionally with someone whose conduct suggests he actively wants me — and this district — to fail,” Marrero wrote to Olson.
Youngquist said there hasn’t been any conversation about his behavior since January. In his time as a DPS educator, Youngquist said, “never has there been a concern about my behavior.”
Allegations preceded contract vote
The email is also notable in that the superintendent’s allegations came a week before the school board voted to extend Marrero’s contract and made it harder for the board to fire him by requiring a supermajority vote by directors — a decision Youngquist opposed.
“(Youngquist) has suggested the possibility of a buyout of my contract to raise this as a strategic option — not out of concern for the district, but as a tactic of intimidation,” Marrero wrote to Olson.
Youngquist denied having ever suggested a buyout of Marrero’s contract. He also said Marrero’s email to Olson, which he had read prior to last week’s board meeting, did not influence his decision to vote against the superintendent’s contract extension.
Marrero’s contract extension also drew criticism from community members who questioned the timing, given November’s school board election and whether the superintendent has had enough time to show he’s improving student academic outcomes, especially among Latino pupils.
The board voted on the extension during a public meeting last week, during which members were also expected to go into a closed session to receive legal advice regarding a discrimination complaint. Directors did not go into the executive session because they ran out of time and opted to vote on Marrero’s contract instead.
The board has not specifically said what complaint would have been addressed during the closed session, but Marrero’s email also accused Youngquist of hostile behavior to staff, particularly employees of color.
Denver Public Schools superintendent Alex Marrero listens to public comment during public comment regarding school closures at DPS Headquarters in Denver on Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)The superintendent, in the email, did not detail specific events that led him to make that allegation, but accused Youngquist of dismissing “equity-focused progress” and “undermining of diverse leadership.” Marrero accused Youngquist of “belittling, dismissive and condescending behavior toward district staff, especially employees of color.”
Marrero also forwarded to Olson an email from DPS lobbyist Deep Badhesha, who had emailed the superintendent on April 21 about an interaction he had with Youngquist regarding the district’s stance on certain legislation. Badhesha said in the email that Youngquist questioned the district’s positions and was “combative.”
“His tone was condescending and, frankly, disrespectful,” Badhesha wrote. “…I’ve worked at DPS in this role for almost three years now, and I’ve never had an interaction like this — not with anyone on the leadership team, nor with any other board member.”
Badhesha declined in an interview to describe what happened in his meeting with Youngquist to spur him to alert DPS leaders. The meeting, on April 18, was the first time Badhesha met with Youngquist without another board member present, he said.
Youngquist said that while he recalled the meeting with Badhesha, he was not aware that the lobbyist was upset with him or had emailed Marrero.
Marrero alleged Youngquist routinely ignores board protocol and directs district staffers. Youngquist has also accused Marrero of “conspiring with educators to ensure students are not failed, implying that our graduation data is manipulated and dishonest,” the superintendent wrote.
“Most troubling, it is increasingly clear that Mr. Youngquist is not invested in the success of Denver Public Schools,” Marrero wrote to Olson. “Instead, his behavior signals an intent to cause harm — in pursuit of personal ambition.”
Youngquist called Marrero’s allegations “misrepresentations.” For example, Youngquist said, his question about graduation data was related to how DPS paused failing grades temporarily during the pandemic compared to other years when that wasn’t a policy.
“It was the right thing to do at that moment,” Youngquist said of the pause. “But, I think, it also likely supported (failing) students’ progress toward graduation.”
Requesting a rare board censure
In his email, Marrero requested that the board censure Youngquist for his behavior. Such a move is rare. The last time a DPS board censured a member was when members voted to formally rebuke Auon’tai Anderson in 2021 after an investigation found he flirted online with a teenage student and made intimidating social media posts.
Marrero also asked the board to prohibit the director’s contact with staff “outside of official channels”; require Youngquist to attend anti-bias training; and review whether there’s a conflict of interest if Youngquist intends to seek the superintendency.
“I remain committed to the success of our district and to working in good faith with the board,” Marrero wrote. “However, I cannot continue to do so under continued assault by a member whose aim appears to be sabotage rather than service. “
Youngquist was elected to the school board in 2023, along with board Vice President Marlene De La Rosa and Treasurer Kimberlee Sia.
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While directors have become known for past infighting, January’s meeting was rare in that board members aired their grievances publicly.
Three board members — Xóchitl “Sochi” Gaytán, Michelle Quattlebaum and Scott Esserman — specifically accused Youngquist of “behavior unbecoming of a board member toward DPS staff” last year.
Youngquist, in an interview in January, acknowledged that he had offended DPS Chief of Staff Deborah Staten and general counsel Aaron Thompson last year. The details of his interactions with Staten were never revealed, but emails showed Thompson accused Youngquist of pushing back on his legal advice and suggested that he did so because of racial biases.
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