Fired Over ‘Kissing Skits’ — Back Teaching Kids

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A Denver teacher fired for graded “kissing skits” with teenage girls is now back in a Colorado elementary classroom, and parents are only finding out from the internet, not the district.

Story Snapshot

Denver school officials unanimously fired French teacher Jennifer Honka after an investigation into same‑sex “kissing skits.”
Students said they felt pressured to kiss classmates because the skits were graded work and a “say yes” rule hung on the wall.
A judge agreed the lessons were inappropriate, even while noting students were not literally forced to kiss.
Despite that record, another Colorado district quietly hired Honka into an elementary English-language role.

How a controversial French assignment ended a 24-year career

Jennifer Honka spent years teaching French language and culture at Northeast Early College in Denver Public Schools. Her downfall began with what she framed as creative skits to help teens practice French. According to district documents and media reports, students were assigned biweekly skits with titles like “The Neighbors Saw Everything” and “The Boring Kiss,” and these counted toward their grades. In those scripts, characters were directed to kiss three times, most often pairing girls with other girls in front of their classmates and teacher.

Students later told adults they felt boxed in. One student said Honka had a classroom rule posted: “the answer is always ‘yes,’” and that it was used to push kids to go along with the skits. Another said she refused to participate and received a zero on the assignment, while a different girl went through with the kissing, then later spread a meme around school saying, “she makes girls kiss.” That student’s attendance reportedly plunged after the incident, a sign that this “lesson” left more than a bad taste in her mouth.

What investigators, a judge, and the school board actually found

Denver Public Schools opened a formal investigation after students complained in 2024. Investigators concluded Honka’s actions did not serve the best interests of her students and recommended discipline. A state administrative law judge then conducted an independent review. He noted that students were not physically forced to kiss, but that Honka’s choice of scripts pushed them to say yes or no to a sexualized act on the spot, in front of peers, under the authority of someone who controlled their grades and classroom status.

The judge described the skit approach as “irresponsible and inappropriate,” citing not only the kissing roles but also repeated personal disclosures by Honka about her sexuality, fertility struggles, suicidal thoughts, and childhood abuse. He concluded that her conduct amounted to “incompetence and neglect of duty” and recommended dismissal. The Denver Public Schools Board then met in executive session and voted 7–0 to fire her on those official grounds, with no public debate. For once, a large district spoke with one voice that the line had been crossed.

Honka’s defense: options, intent, and the gap with student reality

Honka has not been charged with a crime, and she strongly disputes the picture painted by critics. In testimony summarized in coverage, she insisted she never required anyone to kiss. She says students who were uncomfortable could blow a kiss, fake a kiss, or even give a fist bump instead. One complaining student backed up at least part of that, telling the reviewer that Honka would allow pretend kisses. From Honka’s view, she used drama to immerse kids in French, shared her life to build trust, and left them an out if they wanted it.

The judge and the district did not buy that defense. Their point was simple and, frankly, hard to argue with if you respect both common sense and parental rights. When a lesson about language centers on romantic contact, and participation affects grades, the “choice” is no longer real. Teens had to declare their comfort with physical affection in public, with a same-sex classmate, while their teacher watched. Even without literal force, that setup put far more weight on the teacher’s ideology and method than on the kids’ boundaries and dignity.

From firing in Denver to a quiet landing in an elementary school

The case might have ended with the unanimous firing, but it did not. Conservative outlet Townhall and others recently reported that Honka is now listed on the website of a Colorado elementary school as an English language arts or English language development teacher. That means a teacher whom Denver’s own board and a state judge found “irresponsible and inappropriate” with teenagers is now working with much younger, more impressionable children. Parents did not get a glossy letter about that; they found it through watchdog accounts and digging.

Jennifer Honka, a French teacher at Northeast Early College (Denver Public Schools), was fired May 20, 2026 after a unanimous board vote.

An independent administrative law judge found she assigned graded skits requiring students (mostly girls) to kiss each other and shared…

— Grok (@grok) June 22, 2026

From a conservative, common-sense lens, this hits two nerves at once: child protection and system trust. On one hand, schools insist they put “safety and emotional well-being” first, and in Denver’s case they actually acted on that. On the other hand, another district looked at a documented record of sexualized skits, oversharing about trauma, and a unanimous termination, then still decided, “Yes, let’s put her in an elementary classroom.” Parents are right to ask whether background checks and hiring standards are more theater than substance.

Where this leaves parents and what it says about the system

This story is not about banning role-play, languages, or honest talk with kids. Good teachers use creative skits all the time, and many share some of their lives in healthy, age-appropriate ways. The line here is content and coercion. No teacher should turn a foreign-language class into a stage for romantic contact between minors or for unloading their deepest adult wounds. When that happens, the system should not only fire them from one job, then quietly recycle them into another district and younger age group.

Parents do not need degrees in education to spot that this was wrong. They know that consent, privacy, and childhood innocence matter more than one teacher’s pet method or identity story. They also know that when officials talk tough on student safety but keep re-hiring educators with red-flag records, trust collapses. Whether you lean left or right, the basic standard should be clear: if an adult’s classroom conduct triggers a unanimous firing for “incompetence and neglect of duty,” that person has no business starting over down the road with even smaller kids.