The closure of Del Pueblo Elementary School seems like it was inevitable.
The school has been suffering with poor test results and declining enrollment for years. This year, only 80 students had enrolled in the school, which was built for 344.
But the last-minute closure decision, which took place outside the larger Denver Public Schools realignment process, was an awkward stutter step that is bound to cause confusion. It came just days before classes were to begin.
We hope the Del Pueblo situation doesn’t serve as a template for how the district plans to handle future school closures.
In January, DPS Superintendent Michael Bennet had considered shutting down Del Pueblo and Horace Mann Middle School. But he held off, saying he wanted to give a newly appointed citizens committee a chance to study the issue.
Since February, the committee, called A+ Denver, has looked at the district’s financial difficulties, test scores and declining enrollment. The committee’s recommendations for school closures will be released Oct. 2, and the public will have six weeks to comment on them. In November, the school board will vote on the recommendations.
The closure of Del Pueblo, announced Thursday, subverts that well- defined process, and that’s a shame. The school’s principal, Dan Villescas, told the Denver School Board about how he and his staff spent the last several weeks knocking on doors in an effort to tell students and parents the school would probably close. The process evoked tears and sadness.
“For a lot of our families, the most stable thing they have in their lives is that school,” Villescas said.
Members of the A+ Denver committee also attended the school board meeting and urged officials not to drag out closures over several years.
We hope administrators heed that sound advice and in the future stick to their measured schedule of deliberations. The following months will bring a series of difficult decisions about school closures. Undoubtedly, there will be hard feelings.
It’s imperative that DPS approach that process in a way that engenders public trust. Closing Del Pueblo in advance of that well-defined series of community discussions probably wasn’t the best first step.
