Almost 40 percent of all Denver Public Schools students walked away from their neighborhood school last year to go somewhere else, administrators said Monday.
More than half of African-American and white students in the district didn’t go to their neighborhood school, and 37 percent of Latino students “choiced out” of their boundary-area, according to enrollment figures.
Twenty percent of the district’s roughly 73,000 students are white, 57 percent are Latino and 19 percent are African-American.
Three of the top “choice” elementary schools are charter schools. Charter schools are independently operated public schools within the city that have contracts with DPS.
DPS officials will survey parents about choice in coming months to see why they find some schools, and not others, attractive.
Officials are unclear how many Denver parents take their kids out of the district to school. Based on 6-year-old census numbers, it could be up to 30,000 students.
“I don’t think there’s any reason Denver should give up on us, and I don’t think we should give up on Denver,” said Superintendent Michael Bennet. “If we’re unwilling to change, we’re not going to be successful.”
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DPS officials projected no deficit for the 2007-2008 budget cycle. They attribute this to cuts made to central administration this year.
A major announcement is expected Wednesday about the fate of North High School.
DPS administrators called for two meetings that day – one for North High teachers, and then a later meeting for parents about the school’s future.
The district wrapped up 19 community meetings last month about the troubled school, where enrollment is declining and CSAP scores and graduation rates are extremely low.
Community activists, including Padres Unidos, have called for a school “redesign,” which means all the teachers would have to reapply for their jobs. This is highly unpopular with the teachers union.
“I don’t know what to expect,” said Denver Classroom Teachers Association president Kim Ursetta. “The important thing is making sure that kids and parents have the quality education they want so they can succeed. We feel that teachers are a vital part of that conversation.”
