AURORA | After months of investigation and mediation, the Cherry Creek School District has dismissed its investigation into the conduct of former Overland High School teacher Jay Bennish.
The district will also pay out $75,000 to the history teacher, whom the district accused of racism last year, and reinstate Bennish to a teaching post at a different district high school, according to an agreement the two parties signed this week.
“I want to say thank you to all of the students and parents, and my colleagues and friends and family for all the support for what was a very challenging and difficult year,” Bennish told the Sentinel, adding that he was very excited to teach in a new school community.
The agreement, which was obtained by the Sentinel, represents a major victory for Bennish, accused by the district of racist behavior toward students.
The allegations contrasted with a teacher who has long been revered by black students, in particular as a champion of social justice and minority empowerment. News of Bennish’s controversy brought out throngs of former minority students who came to his defense.
“The bottom line is, this is a smashing victory for Jay Bennish,” said lawyer David Lane of civil rights law firm Killmer, Lane and Newman, who represented the popular teacher in his dispute with the school district. “They don’t rehire racists, they don’t pay racists $75,000 and bring them back.”
Cherry Creek School District officials originally declined to comment. After publication, Superintendent Scott Siegfried said in a statement he was concerned with “the possibility of students having to be re-victimized in a dismissal hearing with Jay Bennish” and he
“did not want to put children in that position.
I want to reaffirm our commitment to always investigate any allegation of racist behavior by an adult in one of our schools against students,” Siegfried said. “We must ensure that our schools are safe places where all students, especially our Black, Brown and Indigenous students, feel supported and valued.”
Siegfried continued, “With this draft settlement agreement, the district gets to determine future teaching assignments. As such, Mr. Bennish will not teach Advanced Placement or Black Studies classes and he will not return to Overland High School.”
Lane provided the Sentinel with a memorandum of understanding signed this week by Bennish, Superintendent Scott Siegfried, legal counsels and a judicial arbiter who mediated the process to decide whether Bennish would continue teaching in Cherry Creek for allegedly saying the “N word” and acting racist. Lane said the document contains all the parameters of what will become the final agreement between Bennish and the school district.
In addition to reinstating Bennish, dismissing the investigation and paying him $75,000, Cherry Creek also agreed to “remove the investigation findings and the teacher dismissal charges from Mr. Bennish’s personnel file.”
For his part, Bennish agreed to “treat students and staff with respect” or risk insubordination. He also waived a right to possibly sue the district for his treatment in the episode.
In another parameter, Bennish and Overland Principal Aleshia Armour agreed “not to disparage each other” for either five years or until Bennish leaves the district earlier.
Bennish did not say why the clause was necessary. He called it a “non-issue” and a point he was happy to support because he doesn’t routinely make disparaging remarks against anyone, including Armour.
Lane said that “Jay would rather be back at Overland. But the level of animosity between him and the principal would be difficult for everyone.”
The agreement resolves Bennish’s fate after a year of accusations from the district but sustained support from current and former students.
The school district placed Bennish on paid leave in August 2019 and later kicked off an investigative process, but never released specific details of the accusations against him. In February, Cherry Creek staff had recommended Bennish be fired for saying the “N-word” in class and for what officials said was other racist conduct.
Bennish, who taught African-American history courses, vehemently denied the school district’s claims throughout the process.
Although he is white, Bennish co-sponsored the Black Student Alliance for about 15 years and was an invaluable mentor and instructor for black students at Overland, former students said while disputing the allegations against him.
In February, scores of current and former students and colleagues packed into a school board meeting to offer support for Bennish. In testimonials threaded with tears and righteous indignation, many speakers condemned the school district and called the charges an “absurd” attempt to dismiss a teacher known for his productive discussions of systemic racism.
Bennish said current and former Overland students had recently reached out to him and were participating in calls for racial justice after the death of George Floyd.
Janu Cambrelen, a former Overland student who learned about African-American history and thought under Bennish in the mid-2000s, welcomed the early exoneration of Bennish. Cambrelen wrote a letter of support for Bennish in February.
He said Bennish was committed to teaching about Black history “when it wasn’t the topic of the day, when there weren’t major protests.
It’s something he really cares about and it’s important that folks like him aren’t silenced — and that’s what the attempt was,” Cambrelen said.
To date, about 1,500 people have signed a petition to reinstate him.
It’s the second time that students protested to help save Bennish’s career.
In 2006, a student recorded Bennish apparently comparing former President George W. Bush to Adolf Hitler, sparking a national debate about academic freedom. Bennish was placed on leave and then allowed to return to Overland after throngs of student supporters called for his reinstatement.
The student responsible for taping the controversial comments, Sean Allen, spoke to the school board in February, calling Bennish to be reinstated once again.
He said he reached out years later and apologized to his former teacher.
“The things I did there? They bring me shame,” Allen said of the 2006 incident.
Although he’s happy to see the district’s exoneration, the debacle will close a chapter for Bennish after about two decades of teaching at Overland. He said he was “sad to leave.”