Superintendent moves to fire Boulder teacher accused of inappropriately touching students

The Boulder Valley School District’s superintendent has called for the dismissal of a sixth-grade math teacher accused of inappropriately touching students.

Superintendent Rob Anderson said Tuesday that he was recommending the dismissal of Daniel Greenberg, 56, a teacher at Manhattan Middle School in Boulder.

Greenberg, who was on paid administrative leave during the investigation, will be given five days to appeal the superintendent’s dismissal recommendation, Randy Barber, a district spokesperson, said in a statement. And if he doesn’t appeal, “the dismissal will be finalized,” Barber said.

Greenberg was initially charged with sexual assault of a child in a position of trust – victim under 15; 10 counts of child abuse – knowingly or recklessly cause bodily injury; and 10 counts of harassment.

However, after pleading guilty to one count of child abuse and one count of harassment Friday, Greenberg was sentenced to 18 months of probation and six months of jail work-release, according to court records. Upon pleading guilty, his remaining charges were dismissed.

Work-release is typically when an incarcerated person stays the night in a supervised facility and leaves during the day to go to work in the community.

“In March 2024, the district received allegations that Greenberg had inappropriately touched a student and made her feel uncomfortable,” Anderson said in his written recommendation, adding: “During the course of the investigation, numerous other students reported inappropriate touching as detailed in the police report and being very uncomfortable with Greenberg. Students also reported that Greenberg made them hit themselves and publicly humiliated them.”

Police noted in an affidavit that an investigation found that Greenberg was involved in numerous non-consensual acts of inappropriate touching of his male and female students.

On March 5, 2024, police started an investigation after a student reported feeling uncomfortable due to Greenberg touching her on the shoulder and thigh, according to the affidavit. A person also told authorities that Greenberg may have touched another student’s breast.

“As part of the plea agreement, (Greenberg) surrendered his teaching license and is no longer permitted to teach in Colorado,” Anderson said in the recommendation.

During the investigation, police uncovered that a student had reported incidents to John Riggs, former principal of Manhattan Middle School, stating that the incidents had occurred during the fall semester of the 2021-2022 school year, according to the affidavit.

Riggs failed to properly report the incident to law enforcement or Child Protective Services, as required by law as a mandatory reporter, according to the affidavit. He also failed to place Greenberg on administrative leave for his actions and instead allowed him to return to the classroom.