Denver residents will learn Oct. 2 which schools will be recommended for closing as Denver Public Schools looks for ways to save money and boost student achievement, district officials said Monday.
The school board will vote on the recommendations Nov. 19 – the Monday before Thanksgiving – following six weeks of public involvement in the matter, according to Sarah Hughes, chief of staff for DPS Superintendent Michael Bennet.
“There will be an extensive number of community meetings throughout the process,” Hughes said.
Those meetings will include visits with parents, students and community members “to explain what and why we are doing,” Hughes said.
The district has dozens of half-empty buildings and many low-performing schools, and officials are trying to figure out how to save money, keep students from leaving and boost academic achievement.
Since February, an independent citizen’s panel, A+ Denver, has studied the district’s financial woes, student achievement drops and enrollment problems and believes that closing underpopulated schools would be the best way to improve the district.
The group, co-chaired by former Denver Mayor Federico Peña, created criteria for the district to consider before closing schools – including chronic under-performance on state tests and whether the building is in high demand.
The panel acknowledges that the district may need to close schools in some parts of the city while expanding or building new schools elsewhere.
The panel says DPS has approximately 4 million square feet of unused school space.
“It’s been extremely valuable to have this process so that people can see what we have to come to grips with over the years,” said Bennet.
“We are trying to restore the district to financial health and, more importantly, to raise student achievement. It’s a daunting challenge.”
The district has lost thousands of students since 2001, who carry with them money for the district.
Also, the district must pay $85 million a year to support its pension system, which has led to annual budgetary problems.
The district’s 68,000 students fill schools to only 70 percent of capacity, leading to waste on utilities and maintenance. Schools cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to run even if half-empty.
Closing a typical school would provide the district an annual savings of $400,000 for an elementary school, $740,000 for a K-8 school, $1.03 million for a middle school and $1.5 million for a high school.
The panel insists that displaced students be provided a transition plan.
People close to the process have said that between 10 and 40 schools may be closed.
The district has 151 schools.
During Monday’s work session Hughes handed board members their new calendars reflecting the dates of the school closure meetings.
“We’re going to have a lot of fun in the next couple of months,” said board member Jill Conrad.
Staff writer Jeremy P. Meyer may be reached at 303-954-1367 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com.
