A proposed bill following in the wake of multiple Jeffco Public Schools sexual misconduct cases won’t make it to the Senate floor.

The Colorado Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs committee denied proposed Senate Bill 26-055 on Tuesday afternoon with a vote of three-to-two, with Republican Senators Mark Baisley and Lynda Zamora Wilson being the two “yes” votes.

Baisley drafted the bill with the intention of creating an online registry in the Colorado Department of Education for the disciplinary history of school personnel, allowing other districts’ administration to look into potential code of conduct violations before hiring a teacher or employee.

The idea, according to Baisley, started after the string of seven sexual misconduct-related incidents throughout Jeffco Public Schools between the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2026, including an investigation into David Weiss, the school district’s former chief of schools, that involved possession of child sexual assault material in December 2024.

At the end of last year, Baisley talked to the district during a breakfast meeting.

“I challenged them. I said, ‘what are you guys doing to address the sexual misconduct issues?'” Baisley told The Denver Gazette Tuesday, adding that Superintendent Tracy Dorland told him that her biggest concern was that once the district shoos out someone suspected of violating conduct, they can go to another school without warning.

A prime example, cited multiple times during the committee hearing, is Patricio Illanes.

Illanes — a former Arvada Senior High School teacher — was arrested on suspicion of 40 felony counts and 10 misdemeanor counts, including video taping students, distributing the material and unlawful practice of occupation or profession in January, according to court records.

An investigation by The Denver Gazette’s news partner, 9NEWS, found that the Saint Vrain Valley district looked into similar allegations in 2023, finding that Illanes filmed students while working in that district, but did not secure enough evidence to corroborate that the filming was sexual.

A district administrator recommended “that we do not return Mr. Illanes to EMS or any SVVSD school,” and an employment separation was later agreed upon.

He was hired by Jeffco Public Schools in 2024.

In a statement to 9NEWS, the district claimed they had contacted Saint Vrain’s Human Resources for reference and the district did not note any investigations or concerns.

“There’s a nervousness about saying anything negative about a former employee because there have been lawsuits,” Baisley said. “To say, ‘we terminated that person because of this,’ people shy away from that.”

“It seems like a really easy solution to track offenders that we can implement so we can stop cases like Patricio Illanes from happening again,” Jessica Geesaman, a parent of a former Jeffco student, said during the witness phase.

“There is no consistent way for other districts to know. This gap allows bad actors,” Teddy Collins, another Jeffco parent, said.

Opponents of the bill included Colorado Education Association Director of Government Affairs Meghan Raynes, who argued that while she agrees in the importance of student safety, the registry could “over-simplify complex matters,” leading to people getting barred from working in education without actual criminal convictions. She noted that the district already has legal policies in place.

Former Jeffco Board of Education President Mary Parker also spoke against the bill, but said she ultimately agreed with it. She said she would be in full support if the bill were amended to create specific definitions of violations and created a solidified understanding of policies throughout the state.

She agreed with Raynes that some conduct violations could be “vindictive,” ending an employee’s career with no true investigation.

Current Board of Education member Denine Echevarria echoed Parker’s sentiment, saying she would be all for the bill if it had amendments to span to private schools and was only accessible by human resources.

Raynes did not provide any amendment recommendations.

Ultimately, Sen. Katie Wallace shot the bill down, pointing to loose definitions and the registry creating an “underfunded mandate” on every district in the state.

Baisley said that if the bill got nixed, it was back to the drawing board.

“There is not a sufficient tool in place for addressing this,” he said. “This is something that we can do to help out our school districts and parents.”

9NEWS contributed to this report