‘This isn’t Coca Cola’: Former employee blows whistle on Denver superintendent, reveals staff forced to sign NDAs

A former employee has blown the whistle on Denver Public Schools for forcing staff to sign non-disclosure agreements.

During a DPS school board meeting on Monday, Will Jones, former communications director for the district, revealed shocking details about district leadership.

“The ‘P’ in DPS stands for ‘public,’ and that is who we all answer to,” Jones began. 

He contrasted the transparency of former superintendents Tom Boasberg and Susana Cordova with DPS’s current “employee” – presumably superintendent and Harvard graduate Alex Marrero – who he said “instituted something called ‘executive limitations.’ Executive limitations can, unfortunately, limit what the board knows about the district’s day-to-day operations. 

“In fact, your employee came to my office one day and told me if board members come to me with questions, not to answer them [but] to politely refer them to him, and he would do the responding. 

“I also recently learned that your employee just mandated that all members of the DPS communications team must now sign confidentiality agreements – a curious mandate.” 

Jones, who was DPS director of communications for almost nine years before being terminated in February, concluded by offering to share his experiences in more detail with board members upon request. 

After making his public comments to the board, Jones told The Denver Gazette his refusal to sign an NDA cost him his severance package. 

“This isn’t Coca Cola with their secret recipe. This isn’t KFC with their 11 herbs and spices,” Jones quipped. “What’s going on that we can’t share with the board?”  

DPS has been scrutinized for a variety of issues in recent months – including hush money payments, closed door meetings and the firing of a popular principal who spoke publicly about safety concerns. 

Parents found Jones’ revelation about NDAs particularly worrisome.  

“Safety requires trust, and you can’t get to trust without transparency,” said Steve Katsaros, founding member of Parents Safety Advocacy Group (PSAG). 

The district didn’t disclose information about any NDAs when PSAG previously filed open records requests.