10th Circuit agrees ex-Cherry Creek schools teacher failed to prove discrimination
The federal appeals court based in Denver agreed last month that the Cherry Creek School District ended the contract of a veteran elementary school teacher because of her performance, not because she expressed discomfort with racial equity trainings.
Leslie Shannon, who is Black and Native American, came to Highline Community Elementary School in 2016 after many years of experience teaching. Because of her out-of-state work history, Shannon became a probationary teacher at Highline, with her contract subject to non-renewal each year for her first three years.
After her third year, the district non-renewed her. According to administrators, there were documented concerns about Shannon's performance during all three years. Shannon also had several absences in her final months, including several days of bereavement, but did not adequately prepare for substitute teachers.
Shannon, however, viewed her non-renewal differently.
"For the entire 3 years, I was left totally alone to figure out my own curriculum," Shannon, representing herself, wrote to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit.