Denver Public Schools recommends three schools for closure

Superintendent Alex Marrero will recommend shuttering three Denver Public Schools at the end of the academic year because of declining enrollment when the Board of Education meets Thursday.

The three proposed schools — Denver Discovery, Mathematics and Science Leadership Academy and Fairview Elementary — were singled out at the last board meeting. District officials had identified these schools, and 12 others most affected by student enrollment declines.

DPS identifies 15 schools for possible closure. Three schools could learn their fate as early as next month.

Under Marrero’s plan, starting next school year the Mathematics and Science Leadership Academy would move onto the Valverde Elementary campus and Fairview to Cheltenham Elementary.

All three schools have fewer than 120 students. Denver Discovery, a middle school, is projected to have just 62 students next school year.

Two of the three schools recommended for closure are on a state improvement plan, according to the Colorado Department Education. Only the Mathematics and Science Leadership Academy — a teacher-lead school — meets academic expectations.

Marguerite Roza, a research professor and director of the Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University, wasn’t surprised.

“The schools that get very small are usually low performing because people don’t want to go there,” Roza said.

Roza added: “Families tend to drift to better performing schools, as they should.”

But Roza said she was surprised district officials have only publicly discussed enrollment as a criterion for closure. To ignore academic performance, Roza said, would be “shortsighted.”

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Schools and districts receive a performance rating every year. Those that fail to meet expectations are assigned a rating of “Priority Improvement” or "Turnaround,” which starts what’s called the “Accountability Clock.”

Schools and district officials then have five years to turn things around before the state steps in with a course of action designed to improve student achievement.

An advisory committee report on declining enrollment last year suggested criteria included schools with critically low enrollment that are unable to provide programming without budget assistance and those that are not financially solvent.

Declining enrollment

The school district has been grappling with declining enrollment for the past decade.

Fewer students means less money for the district.

Denver Public Schools (DPS) is facing a $9 million budgetary shortfall.

Enrollment has shrunk more than 8,000 since 2014. The steepest declines have been among the district’s elementary schools, which — according to the district — have been declining for more than five years.

Lower birth rates, skyrocketing home costs and gentrification are the biggest factors driving enrollment declines, school officials say.

While enrollment decreases are citywide, some pockets have remained steady or increased such as in the far northeast and northern Central Park, according to a 2022 strategic report. The district expects these trends to continue over the next five years.

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Since the last board meeting two weeks ago, district officials and Marrero have met with teachers, staff and parents to discuss the proposed closures. Board members, who rejected a proposal in the fall to shutter 10 schools, indicated a willingness last month to fast-track the fate of these three schools.

With enrollment numbers falling significantly short of projections at these schools, board members worried that the closure discussion in November might have affected the SchoolChoice round, which opened Jan. 13.

It’s a complaint parents echoed in the community engagement process.

“Nobody wants to enroll in a school that has a potential of closing next year,” said Anita Banuelos, director of organizing for Transform Education Now, an education advocacy organization.

Banuelos attended the meeting for Fairview Elementary, where her nephew goes to school.

Colorado is an open enrollment state. This means students can attend the assigned school in their neighborhood or choose to another either in or outside their district.

The next SchoolChoice round begins April 11.

Students in a closing school will receive prioritized enrollment at the school of their choice, district officials have said.