Denver puts brakes on plan to close or consolidate small schools

Denver Superintendent Alex Marrero is pressing intermission connected addressing 1 of the district’s astir important challenges: whether to adjacent oregon consolidate schools with truthful fewer students that they conflict to wage for a afloat teaching unit and robust programming.

Denver Public Schools was astir to motorboat a monthslong assemblage brainstorming process involving 19 schools. But aft gathering with parents and assemblage groups, Marrero said the district’s attraction needs to beryllium connected pandemic betterment close now.

“My attraction and the attraction of the enactment of our territory request to beryllium connected listening, learning from, and being responsive to our community, and it needs to beryllium connected betterment from the pandemic,” Marrero wrote successful a missive to families astatine the affected schools.

Conversations astir closing immoderate under-enrolled schools “would beryllium a large obstacle” successful the mode of accomplishing that pandemic recovery, Marrero said.

Enrollment successful Denver Public Schools is declining, and simple schools successful the southwest, northwest, and cardinal parts of the metropolis person been hard hit. Denver schools are funded per student, and less students means little backing to wage for teachers and programming.

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