Denver Public Schools superintendent Alex Marrero is reportedly requiring employees to sign confidentiality agreements before receiving severance packages.
The latest: Former district spokesperson Will Jones said during a public comment portion at Monday night’s school board meeting that he was asked to sign such an agreement after he was fired in February. He declined to sign it.
- The agreement says former employees can’t discuss their experience in the district for three years after their employment ends, per details first reported by the Denver Gazette.
- Jones said the practice has become standard practice under Marrero’s leadership.
Why it matters: Requiring a nondisclosure agreement could have a chilling effect on school employee’s ability to discuss what happens inside a public department.
Context: NDAs are legally-enforceable and are often used to ensure certain information remains confidential.
- They’re typically used in situations where employees have access to things like trade secrets and other sensitive information.
What they’re saying: The district’s NDAs “strictly adhere to Colorado law,” which means that any rules in those agreements are legally compliant, district spokesperson Scott Pribble said in a statement to Axios.
- “It is common for employers to offer severance to employees in exchange for certain protections in the form of a severance agreement,” Pribble wrote in a statement.
- The agreements often include clauses meant to serve as a “safeguard” for the district and the former employee, and seek to avoid “bad-mouthing” from both sides.
The other side: Jones, who worked in the district for nine years, told the Denver Gazette he wonders what the district is trying to keep from the school board by requiring the agreements.
