DENVER — Parents across Colorado are working to find alternative child care as many school districts cancel classes for Thursday.
The Colorado Education Association is leading the No More Education Cuts statewide day of action on March 20. Educators from across the state are expected to attend a rally at the State Capitol to protest anticipated funding cuts.
Due to anticipated staff shortages, several school districts have canceled school for Thursday.
Boulder Valley School District and Adams 12 Five Star Schoolsannounced their cancellations last week. Aurora Public Schools announced on Wednesday that it was canceling school for Thursday.
Instead of closing all schools, Denver Public Schools identified 30 DPS-managed schools and 55 charter schools/"innovation zones" that will remain open Thursday.
Joan Marcano has two daughters at DPS's Stedman Elementary School, which will be closed on Thursday. Marcano told Denver7 he's used to sudden school closures for things like snow days.
"[I've been] coordinating with my wife, 'Hey, what do you think we’re going to do?'" said Marcano.
Rob Gould, president of the Denver Classroom Teacher's Association (DCTA), said he's expecting 2,000 to 3,000 educators to protest at the State Capitol on Thursday.
"Our teachers are tired of always — and every year — balancing the budget on the backs of our students," said Gould.
Scott Pribble, the spokesperson for DPS, said the schools that will be open on Thursday will continue with their normal schedule.
"This a traditional educational day. This is not designed to be daycare for the day," said Pribble.
Pribble said the district waited until Tuesday to release its plan for a reason.
"We didn’t want to just send out a letter at a time and a letter at a time and have parents go, 'Well they heard from their school. Why haven’t we heard from our school?' So instead, we waited until we knew what the full plan was for the entire district and made the call at that time," he explained.
While families are figuring out their child care plans, Marcano said he's supporting the fight.
"I support the teachers. These are the people who take care of my daughters every day," he said.
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