With the start of the new school year less than two weeks away, 11 staff members who worked with special-education students at Fort Collins High School during the 2024-25 school year have been told they cannot return to their jobs this fall.
All 11 staff members participated in a group text chat that included photos of special-education students and comments that could be considered inappropriate or offensive, the staff members were told by Poudre School District Superintendent Brian Kingsley, Fort Collins High School Principal Jennifer Roth and members of the district’s human resources department in multiple letters shared with the Coloradoan.
In a termination letter sent in June, Kingsley notified one of the three licensed teachers in the school’s Integrated Learning Services program, Amy Townsend, that he recommended to the Board of Education that she be fired. And 10 paraprofessionals in the program were notified in June that their contracts, which district spokesperson John Cope said expired May 29, would not be renewed for the 2025-26 school year. The school board is not expected to take action on the recommendation to fire Townsend until its next scheduled meeting Aug. 12…