Lesbian teacher fired for making girls KISS in class is now accused of vile incest secret... and yet she still landed new job at elementary school: Read her brazen defense

By NIC WHITE, US SENIOR INVESTIGATIONS REPORTER Published: 18:54, 19 June 2026 | Updated: 18:57, 19 June 2026 A lesbian teacher was fired for directing girls in her French class to kiss during learning skits and lick each other while portraying farm animals. Jennifer Honka, 50, was unanimously fired from Northeast Early College (NEC) by the Denver Public School Board on May 20 after a year of legal wrangling. The board earlier heard Honka had a classroom rule: 'the answer is always yes,' which students said made them feel pressured to kiss when acting out skits they were graded on. Despite the class of 16 having seven boys and nine girls, students told investigators they 'could not recall Honka choosing a boy actor' for roles with kissing. An independent review of the case also revealed Honka told students about how she was abused as a child, and that her son was conceived using her uncle's sperm. One student left the room in tears after the veteran educator told the class she once had an urge to 'drive in front of a semi-truck' to end her life, the report said. But despite being terminated for incompetence and neglect of duty at the grade 9 to 12 school, Honka quickly began teaching at an elementary school in a different district. Until this week, she was listed as an English language development teacher at Malley Drive Elementary School in northern Denver, about 15 miles from NEC. Jennifer Honka, 50, was unanimously terminated from Northeast Early College by the Denver Public School Board on May 20 Honka was listed as an English language development teacher at Malley Drive Elementary School in northern Denver Malley Drive is part of the Adams 12 Five Star Schools district, which oversees more than 50 schools with about 33,000 students. Honka was listed on the school's website from at least September last year, while she was on paid administrative leave as she appealed her dismissal from NEC. Her profile quietly disappeared from Malley Drive's website on Wednesday morning. It is unclear whether she is still employed by the school. Malley Drive Elementary School's two principals did not respond to questions from the Daily Mail.  Honka was put on leave from NEC on February 27, 2025, after complaints against her surfaced. She stopped being paid in December but was still employed until her firing. Before her dramatic fall from grace, Honka was a decorated teacher with 24 years of experience, including eight at NEC, and received the highest possible rating the previous three years. Complaints first arose in the 2023-24 school year when 'distressed' students began confiding in other teachers that they were 'forced to kiss' in class. After an investigation recommended Honka be fired, she appealed and Administrative Law Judge Keith Kirchubel from the Office of Administrative Courts heard testimony from students, teachers and Honka. Kirchubel's report, handed down in April, recounted how a student told her chemistry teacher about one of the skits in April 2024. 'The student was very uncomfortable and did not know what to do. She went ahead and kissed another student at [Honka]'s direction,' the report read.  An independent review of the case also revealed Honka told students about how she was abused as a child, and that her son (right) was conceived using her uncle's sperm 'The student then shared a digital meme with (the chemistry teacher) that included a picture of [Honka] and the caption 'she makes girls kiss'. The meme had circulated among the students. 'After this incident, the student's attendance decreased dramatically.' Other students testified that when they refused to participate, they were given a grade of zero for the assignment while one said they walked out of the class. Students told the investigation they were never literally forced to kiss, but that Honka 'convinced' them they needed to. The biweekly skits were used as a tool to help students improve their French skills by playing a role and speaking the lines, and they were graded on their performance. But Honka chose several skits that included characters kissing each other, and students told the investigation she only selected girls to play those parts. Students told the school principal Jennifer Warren that Honka 'was making them kiss; they stated that they did not want to, but participating in the skit was part of their grades,' the report stated. One skit was called 'The Boring Kiss,' which had three scenes where characters kissed and included some who were dating. An English teacher testified that a student 'appeared upset and defeated' in her class and told her 'she had been asked to kiss three other girls in one of [Honka]'s skits'. Honka herself admitted that she overheard a student use her phone to call her mother and say, 'she's making students kiss'. Another skit was called 'The Neighbors Saw Everything' in which students testified they were told to 'act like animals and pretend to groom one another by licking.' The skit also included kissing between human characters. Honka, testifying in her defense, said directing students to kiss would be 'highly inappropriate' and they didn't have to if they didn't want to. Instead, she said they were given alternatives like 'blowing a kiss' or fist bumps and were told not to do anything that made them uncomfortable. One student testified that Honka 'would allow students to pretend to kiss'. Honka insisted in her testimony that her 'answer is always yes' rule wasn't meant to be applied to the kissing scenes in the skits. Instead, it was meant for questions like, 'Should you put your phone away?' and, 'Are we always respectful?' The independent review also found that Honka inappropriately shared details of her personal life with students during her class. On one occasion, when the students were drawing their family trees, she told the class that her son, who is now 14, was conceived using her uncle's sperm. The uncle was her aunt's husband and not related to Honka by blood. When the class was drawing their family trees, she told the class that her son, who is now 14 (pictured together), was conceived using her uncle's sperm Honka also told the class during the activity about the 'physical abuse she suffered as a child that resulted in broken bones' at the hands of her parents, the report stated. Another time, Honka 'shared with students an impulse she had to "drive in front of a semi truck" to commit suicide,' which caused a student who was also struggling with suicidal thoughts to run out of the class. The teacher in her testimony defended telling her students about her personal life, saying it built rapport and showed them they could come to educators with their own problems.  Honka's colleagues testified to the review's hearings both to the state of mind that her class put students in, and her bullying of other teachers. Fellow teacher Jessica Rapp 'noted that students told her that they did not want to go to [Honka]'s French class; kids were distressed by [her] class'. She also testified about one occasion when she was overseeing a student taking a make-up test, and she asked another pupil to tell Honka he would be late to her class as a result. 'Five minutes after that, [Honka] brought her entire class of students into Ms Rapp's room to reprimand Ms Rapp in front of them all,' the report stated. 'Ms Rapp was embarrassed and mortified. [Honka] took the test-taking student back to her own class before the test was finished.' Honka while pregnant with her son in 2010 Another time, Rapp sent her assistant to fetch students from Honka's class who needed to take tests. However, Honka refused to let them out, telling the assistant: 'these are my kids,' forcing Principal Warren to intervene, according to the report. Honka claimed the disciplinary action was discrimination against lesbian identity and retaliation for her making 18 grievances to the district in her role as the teacher's union rep. '[Honka] stated that the allegations against her all came from students with strong Christian backgrounds,' the report stated. However, Kirchubel found no evidence for this as the school was known to be welcoming of LGBTQ+ staff - several of whom used they/them pronouns - and none of Honka's grievances were for discrimination. Kirchubel agreed with the school board's decision to fire Honka in a scathing conclusion to his independent review. 'Regardless of whether [Honka] "forced" the participants to kiss, her choice of script forced them to express their preferences and consent about a very personal and sexualized activity on the spot in front of their peers,' he wrote. 'They were also forced to determine whether they were comfortable dissenting from the direction of the script to their teacher, who was in a position of control over the situation.  'Multiple students manifested extreme discomfort about these skits in their reports to other teachers.' What to do with Honka was put to a vote at the school board meeting on May 20, when all seven of the members decided to terminate Honka's employment Kirchubel agreed that using skits to teach French may have been effective, but the way Honka did it was 'irresponsible and inappropriate.' 'There was no reason why a different script that did not call on students to engage in non-consensual intimacy or else object in front of their peers could not have advanced their learning,' he wrote. Honka's disclosure of highly personal details was 'reckless and completely disregarded the potential effects on the class' including the distress caused to children struggling with their own mental health. Altogether, the complaints were a 'troubling pattern of poor judgment and neglect of the best interests of the students in her charge'. 'Her choice of skits, her implementation of them, and her repeated disclosure of sensitive and potentially traumatizing information amounted to incompetence and neglect of duty as it was shown to have negative effects on [Honka]'s students with little or no educational value,' Kirchubel wrote. Principal Warren told the review she reported Honka to Denver Police, including statements from three students, as part of her mandatory reporting duty. Police declined to press criminal charges. Honka was a decorated teacher with 24 years of experience, including eight at NEC (pictured), and received the highest possible rating the previous three years A May 20 school board meeting voted on whether to fire her or reject the recommendation, and instead keep her on or suspend her for a year. All seven of the board members voted to terminate Honka's employment without any further discussion. 'The safety, emotional well-being, and dignity of our students are the absolute highest priorities of Denver Public Schools. All schools must be spaces where students feel safe, respected, and supported,' the board said. 'Following a thorough district investigation and an independent review by a state administrative law judge, the DPS Board of Education voted unanimously to terminate the employment of Jennifer Honka. 'We commend the bravery of the students who came forward to report these incidents, as well as the school staff who acted immediately as mandatory reporters.  'We remain fully committed to upholding the highest standards of professional conduct and ensuring our classrooms remain safe spaces for all.' No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? 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