FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, June 16, 2022
CONTACT: Sara Loflin, Executive Director at [email protected]
DENVER: Announcing the launch of a new campaign The Kulmann Files, detailing the history of serious allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination against Stargate Charter School during the period Jan Kulmann served as President of the school’s board of directors, ProgressNow Colorado’s Executive Director, Sara Loflin, called for Jan Kulmann to withdraw from the race for Colorado’s Eighth Congressional District.
“Jan Kulmann threatened and cajoled her way into public office by trying to silence parents whose children experienced sexual harassment and discrimination at Stargate Charter School on her watch,” Loflin said. “A school board president’s job is to develop and implement policies and procedures that protect our babies, not to bury evidence to enable child abusers.”
Seventeen federal complaints were filed against Stargate during Kulmann’s tenure as Stargate’s School Board President from 2012 to 2018. The complaints contained allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination against disabled students which Kulmann ignored and minimized during Board meetings. Kulmann told parents, “formal complaints filed against the school are one piece of the story and anyone can file a complaint at anytime.” She then asserted that “some people do not follow the communication pathways resulting in the board not receiving information until later,” according to Stargate Charter School Board Meeting Minutes from September 13, 2017.
Three months later, on December 13, 2017, federal investigators verified several of the complaints and Kulmann and her board were meeting behind closed doors in executive sessions to discuss what the Stargate School community had been telling her for years.
“Why did it take investigators three months to see what Jan Kulmann had been hearing about from concerned parents and upset staff for five years,” ProgressNow Colorado’s Executive Director, Sara Loflin said. “Jan Kulmann should be ashamed. It’s alarming that she continues to seek public office. She needs to step down.”
Ultimately, due to poor oversight and outright negligent behavior by Kulmann, Adams 12 Five Star Schools renewed Stargate’s charter on limited terms. The stipulations set forth in Stargate’s 2019 approved application stated, “that Stargate’s charter be renewed for a two-year period, subject to conditions designed to address DAC’s concerns related to issues including Stargate’s lack of student diversity; compliance with laws regarding harassment, discrimination, and enrollment barriers; inadequate social-emotional curriculum and supports; provision of services to special populations; responsiveness to matters raised in stakeholder surveys, and overall accountability.”
For more information, check out The Kulmann Files website at https://kulmannfiles.com.
ProgressNow Colorado, formerly known as the Rocky Mountain Progressive Network, was founded in 2003. The flagship of 20 state-based affiliates and the state’s largest multi-issue progressive advocacy organization PNC creates compelling media to educate, inform and engage Coloradans in progressive change.
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