DPS shares criteria for school closures and how bonds will impact those schools

DENVER — Denver Public Schools (DPS) Superintendent Alex Marrero is expected to make recommendations for school closures on Nov. 7 — two days after the election in which Denver voters will approve or reject a $975 million bond.

Diana Kessel, mother of two elementary school daughters, has a busy life. The last thing she wants to worry about is whether their school will be on the district’s list of recommended closures.

“The closer we get to November 7, the more I think I’m being stupid and that we’ll be on the list. And this whole process was just a false illusion that everything would be fine.” everything will be done right,” Kessel said.

Meanwhile, Denver voters have until Nov. 5 to decide the fate of a huge bond aimed at funding school improvements. Under the bill, DPS would use the money to improve school safety, maintain and renovate school buildings, install air conditioning on certain campuses, build new schools or expand classroom capacity to address overcrowding, modernize science and computer laboratories, and build and improve careers. – readiness of premises.

“It leaves a sour taste in the mouth. How crazy is it that we vote on a nearly billion dollar bill on the 5th and on the 7th a secret, magic list comes out,” Kessel said.

Denver7 reported these concerns directly to DPS. Schools on the closure list will still see improvements because the district has no plans to sell the buildings, spokesman Scott Pribble said.

“There are a lot of other things on that list that we can prioritize if we have schools that are closing that may not need some of that funding,” Pribble explained.

Pribble said the current closure criteria are different from those used in past years.

“We have seen two different rounds of school closures in the recent past. One was simply because of academic performance, but that’s not it. The other was simply because of the smaller schools,” he said.

This time, DPS said it will review the enrollment question and a list of other criteria, including the number of students who live in each school’s area and choose to attend other area schools, the types of classes available and the condition of the building, including whether there is air conditioning.

Mike DeGuire, who previously served as DPS director, believes the district is rushing the decision.

“I don’t think we’re thinking about the financial realities and the human toll and the toll it takes on the neighborhoods and the people involved,” DeGuire said.

Kessel said the process left her frustrated and hopeless.

“The whole process feels disingenuous and I lose my voice every time we try to speak out,” she said.

Marrero’s recommendations will be voted on by the DPS Board of Education at its Nov. 21 meeting.