Denver Public Schools Superintendent Alex Marrero has just weeks to make a tough decision — which schools DPS will close in the next year. The district’s enrollment has been falling since 2019, and leaders expects DPS will lose another 6,000 students — around 8% — by 2028.
Marrero is required to make a recommendation on which schools to close and consolidate on Nov. 7. The board of education will vote on the closures on Nov. 21. Marrero sat down with Denver7 morning anchor and education reporter Nicole Brady to discuss the recent community meetings that are helping him make a decision.
“What I’ve seen happen in these last regional sessions is that it's been a little bit of an aha moment, folks can step away from their micro experience and realize that the district as a whole is not functioning in the best way possible,” Marrero said.
Marrero said he doesn’t know at this point, how many schools will be on his list. He acknowledged that the problem is regional, with schools in the southwest, northwest, central and some parts of the southeast seeing larger declines in enrollment. But the far northeast part of the district is actually seeing a growth in student population, and there are plans to build an additional elementary school there.
Jeffco Public Schools and Aurora Public Schools have also both closed schools in recent years. In DPS, Denver Discovery School, Fairview Elementary, and Mathematics, Science and Leadership Academy all closed at the end of the 2022-2023 school year. Marrero said declining birth rates and the high cost of living are factors in the enrollment declines.
He acknowledged that the tough decisions have been put off too long.
“This is long overdue. It is a very difficult decision to make, and I'm sure it's going to be even more of a burden to come up with a set of schools, and that burden lies with me,” Marrero said.
There are four more regional meetings to discuss the closures and consolidations before the superintendent releases a list.
Oct. 7, 6-7 p.m., CEC Early College
Oct. 14, 6-7 p.m., Lincoln High School
Oct. 15, 6-7 p.m., Montbello High School
Oct. 22, 6-7 p.m., virtual via Zoom
