A Denver Teacher Made Students Kiss in Class Skits — and Graded Them on It. The Board Fired Her, 7–0.

Jennifer Honka, a longtime French teacher at Northeast Early College in Denver, ran graded in-class skits — with titles like “The Boring Kiss” — whose scripts called for students to kiss each other. After multiple student complaints, an independent review, and a police report, the Denver Public Schools board voted unanimously, 7–0, to fire her.

Students said the kissing pairings were almost always same-sex, that participation counted toward their grade, and that Honka enforced a classroom rule — “the answer is always ‘yes’” — that some read as pressure to go along. One student who refused reportedly received a zero. An administrative-law judge found the students were not physically forced, but that the assignments “forced them to express preferences… on the spot in front of their peers” and that Honka’s implementation was “irresponsible and inappropriate.”

A note on framing: this is a personnel matter, not a criminal case. Police reviewed it and brought no charges; the board’s stated grounds were “incompetence and neglect of duty.” Honka is an adult public employee and is named across the public record; the students are minors and are not named here. This page reports what the independent review and the board found.

• 7–0 — the Denver Public Schools board vote to terminate Honka on May 20, 2026, on grounds of 'incompetence and neglect of duty' · Source: CBS Colorado
• Graded — the kissing skits counted toward students' performance grades; one student who declined reportedly received a zero · Source: CBS Colorado; Colorado Politics
• 'Answer is always yes' — the classroom rule students said pressured them to participate; pairings were predominantly same-sex · Source: CBS Colorado
• No charges — the principal filed a Denver police report after a third student complaint; police took no criminal action — this is a personnel matter · Source: CBS Colorado
• ~24 years — Honka's teaching career (8 with DPS); she had received the district's highest ratings the prior three years and denies forcing anyone · Source: CBS Colorado

According to the independent review and reporting by CBS Colorado, Honka assigned biweekly graded skits in her French class — including ones titled “The Neighbors Saw Everything” and “The Boring Kiss” — whose scripts called for kissing. Students reported being steered into kissing scenes, with pairings that were predominantly girl-girl, and said the work counted toward their grade. Honka’s stated classroom rule, “the answer is always ‘yes,’” was meant to encourage improv participation, but some students experienced it as pressure they couldn’t refuse without a penalty.

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After a third student reported the in-class kissing, the school’s principal, Jennifer Warren, filed a report with the Denver Police Department; police took no criminal action. The district commissioned an independent review by Colorado administrative-law judge Keith Kirchubel, whose April 30, 2026 findings concluded that while no student was physically forced, the assignments put teenagers on the spot in front of peers and that Honka’s conduct was “irresponsible and inappropriate.” The review also found she had shared inappropriate personal details with classes.

On May 20, 2026, the seven-member DPS board voted unanimously to terminate Honka on grounds of “incompetence and neglect of duty.” In her defense, Honka — a roughly 24-year teaching veteran who had earned the district’s highest assessment ratings in each of the prior three years — testified that she never forced anyone to kiss and that she offered uncomfortable students alternatives, such as blowing a kiss or a fist bump. The Denver Classroom Teachers Association, whose president Rob Gouldrepresented her, backed her through the proceeding. The district’s spokesperson, Scott Pribble, said the “safety, emotional well-being, and dignity of our students are the absolute highest priorities.”

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What the record establishes is narrow but real: a teacher built graded assignments around making teenagers kiss in front of their classmates, students felt they couldn’t say no without losing points, and an independent review plus a unanimous board concluded that the conduct crossed a line. The board framed it as a competence-and-judgment failure, not a criminal one, and police agreed there was nothing to charge. The accountability here is institutional — a district that, after a complaint first surfaced in 2024, ultimately removed a long-tenured, highly rated teacher because the classroom conduct could not be defended.

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Last updated June 17, 2026