Denver’s school board is scheduled to vote Thursday on a new proposal to close three schools with severely low enrollment, nearly four months after the elected leaders rejected the district’s first plan to address falling student numbers.
Denver Public Schools Superintendent Alex Marrero is recommending Denver Discovery, Mathematics and Science Leadership Academy, and Fairview Elementary all close at the end of the academic year, with students moving to other district schools, according to a presentation he is scheduled to give the board at a special meeting Thursday.
The meeting’s agenda does not include time for public comment on the closure plan, which is scheduled to be voted on one day after it became public.
“We had indicators that the superintendent really was trying to elevate the urgency of some of these decisions to some of the board so I don’t think we were surprised” by the approaching vote, said Rosemary Rodriguez, co-chair of Educate Denver, a coalition of more than 30 education and political leaders who advocate for a high-quality education for DPS students.
In potentially closing schools, Marrero is seeking to address persisting enrollment declines and a possible $9 million budget deficit the state’s largest district is facing. He has identified 12 additional schools that also have low enrollment, but isn’t expected to make a final recommendation on their fate until September.
It’s the second time since last fall the schools have faced the possibility of closing; they were among the 10 schools Marrero recommended shutting down in late October. But that plan was rejected by the school board in November despite revisions to reduce the list to only two schools: Denver Discovery and Mathematics and Science Leadership Academy.
Last month, board members who previously voted against school closures hinted that they were ready to act on the three schools in Marrero’s new recommendation.
Under the superintendent’s new plan, students at Mathematics and Science Leadership Academy would move to Valverde Elementary School and those attending Fairview would have guaranteed spots at Cheltenham Elementary School. Students at those two schools would attend their new schools at the start of the 2023-24 academic year.
Employees at those two schools would also have guaranteed positions at the new schools, according to the proposal.
Families with children attending Denver Discovery would get to choose what school their students attend in the fall. The district heard from staff and families who said they did not want to merge into another school, but instead “wanted agency in selecting their ‘forever school,’” according to the presentation.
All three schools have fewer than 120 students. Denver Discovery, a middle school, was expected to enroll only 62 students next year.
Overall enrollment in DPS has fallen for three consecutive years because of declining births, rising housing prices and gentrification. However, elementary enrollment has fallen since 2014. The district is facing a potential $9 million shortfall because schools receive less funding when there are fewer students.
District officials have said they are subsidizing schools with low enrollment to keep them operational. DPS is providing the three schools Marrero has proposed closing with supplemental funding that ranges from $680,139 to $1.05 million, depending on the school.
“Our impacted school communities”
Representatives of at least one community organization said they were surprised the vote on school closures was happening so soon. But others, including members of the teacher’s union, said they understood there was an urgency to make a decision as families are deciding where to send their children to school and educators are searching for jobs.
“We do know these schools were being discussed late last year,” said Milo Marquez, chair of the Latino Education Coalition. “We know that, but we just thought there would be more time to engage the community”
But, he said, the vote is financially responsible given the budget deficit, and it would improve the resources available to students who attend the three schools. Schools with low enrollment have larger class sizes and fewer electives, such as art, and after-school activities.
Schools that were on the original closure list in the fall are struggling to retain employees and students because of the uncertainty around those schools’ future, said Rob Gould, president of the Denver Classroom Teachers Association.
“We’re glad the board is making a move on this,” he said.
By voting Thursday, the school board is not trying to “avoid public comment but rather to honor the voices of those who have spoken to us,” board spokesman Bill Good said in an email.
“The district has been engaging with our impacted school communities over the past four months regarding the potential closures, including at several public meetings over the past week at the three schools up for closure,” he said. “During these intimate conversations with the communities of the three impacted schools, we heard very clearly that they want this to happen as soon as possible so they could begin to make concrete plans for next year.
Dispute over Fairview Elementary
The rollout of the previous school closure proposal in the fall faced criticism from families, employees and the school board for its quick timeline and lack of community engagement.
In November, the district received pushback on its plans to merge Fairview with Cheltenham from families and the Denver Housing Authority.
A Nov. 1 memo by the housing authority showed it is expecting redevelopment in the Sun Valley neighborhood to bring enough children to keep Fairview open. It also found “significant safety issues” on the highways children would have to cross to get to Cheltenham.
The Denver Housing Authority said in a statement Wednesday that it “continues to be concerned” about DPS’s recommendation to close Fairview.
“New and returning Sun Valley residents have begun moving back into the neighborhood this month,” the housing authority said in the statement. “Sun Valley families, their future stability and the important educational role of Fairview Elementary have been at the center of DHA’s redevelopment approach for the past decade.”
Half of the Denver Housing Authority’s residents are under the age of 18 and 40% are elementary age, according to the statement.
“As a result, DHA strongly supports keeping Fairview Elementary open to continue to provide critical support and services to the historically underserved Sun Valley community,” the housing authority said.
Marrero’s presentation says that in recent weeks the district has held meetings with staff and families about the future of the three schools that might close and that their feedback is being used by the superintendent to make the new recommendation.
Now, as part of the closure plan, Marrero will recommend DPS expand the school boundary for Cheltenham to include Fairview’s. If approved, this would guarantee transportation for students in Fairview’s boundary to Cheltenham because they would be considered outside of the latter’s “walk zone,” according to the presentation.
