Denver Public Schools to wait at least 4 years between school closures

The Denver school board approved a four-year hiatus on school closures Thursday even as a recent report predicting Colorado’s largest district will need to shutter more buildings by 2030 because of declining enrollment. 

Board of Education members previously tried to implement a three-year pause on school closures, but the measure failed in May. The school board was split 4-2 in Thursday’s vote to approve the hiatus, which comes as Denver Public Schools expects K-12 enrollment to drop further in the coming years. Director Kimberlee Sia was not present for the vote.

“I know we’re going to need to close schools in the next five years,” said board President Carrie Olson during the meeting.

But Olson and other directors who supported the policy change said in interviews that constituents have asked the board for reassurances that DPS isn’t going to close more schools in the next year or two.

The district closed seven schools this year and will restructure three more because of declining enrollment. DPS also closed three schools in 2023.

“They wanted time to be able to build their community,” Olson said in an interview. “I also consider the schools that have been redesigned that have asked for reassurances that we aren’t going to close them and that they’ll have time to settle into the new configuration of their schools.”

Several DPS schools have operated under the threat of closure in recent years as district officials have discussed — and the board has put off — shuttering buildings with low enrollment.

Board members hope to give educators and families at those schools space to breathe by temporarily pausing school closures, said director Scott Esserman.

“It’s about reducing the overall stress,” he said. “It’s about building trust with community.”

But board Vice President Marlene De La Rosa opposed the policy change, calling it a “false promise that we know we cannot keep” because the district may still need to close schools because of falling enrollment.

“Waiting another four years to wait … would have an incredible impact on the quality of education we provide students,” De La Rosa said during the meeting.

Under the new policy, Superintendent Alex Marrero must wait until the 2029-30 academic year to propose more school closures.

Previously, if Marrero planned to recommend school closures, he had to do so each August, with the Board of Education required to vote on the proposal by November of the same year.

The new policy says the superintendent will have to wait at least four years before proposing another round of closures unless DPS faces a significant change in enrollment or funding.

Marrero also could decide to close schools for low academic performance starting in fall 2026 under a new policy he plans to implement in August.

Board member John Youngquist said he previously voted against the three-year pause on closures because Marrero and district staffers implemented the school closure policy “effectively” during the 2024-25 academic year. He said during the meeting that the four-year hiatus isn’t necessary and creates a restriction for the superintendent.

“I continue to have confidence that it is something (Marrero) and the staff are able to engage in effectively on an annual basis,” he said in an interview.

At DPS, enrollment — which sits at 90,450 students — jumped in recent years because of a surge in immigrant children but remains below the peak of 92,112 pupils that the district had five years ago.

But last week, the district released a report that predicts enrollment will fall by 8% — or 6,005 students — by 2029. The report said DPS is likely to recommend school closures in the city’s northwest, southwest and central regions, where enrollment is falling the most.

De La Rosa asked Marrero during the meeting whether DPS would need to close more than 10 schools — which is the number of buildings affected by consolidation this year — if the district waits to close schools by 2029 and enrollment declines as predicted.

“I would say so, yes,” Marrero responded.

Rising home prices and gentrification have changed where families live in the city, leading to declining enrollment in regions, such as northwest Denver, even as enrollment grows in the far northeast. Gentrification is also changing DPS’ student population, which is growing whiter and more affluent.

“We know it’s an impending issue,” said board member Xóchitl “Sochi” Gaytán about future school closures.

But, she said in an interview, “We deserve a break as a community and this is an opportunity to let the superintendent know — through this amendment — that my community deserves time to heal and then we can come back and have this conversation again.”