The Democratic National Convention is expected to bring in cash, national attention and big shots to Denver, but it also may bring a change for the city’s students.
Denver Public Schools is considering delaying the start of school next year until after the Pepsi Center convention, which is Aug. 25-28.
That would mean school would start after Labor Day for the first time since the 2000-01 school year.
“We have 37 schools within a 2-mile radius of the convention center,” said Joseph Sandoval, DPS’s executive director for educational services.
Likely traffic problems, potential security issues and the fact that staffers and students may want to be involved in the convention are driving the possible change to the schedule.
This year, school started Aug. 20.
For seven years, Sandoval has been in charge of creating the school schedule, which is ultimately approved by the school board.
Sandoval said he has built three possible schedule scenarios for next year, including one that starts school after Labor Day because of the convention. The other two scenarios have school starting on Aug. 19.
School has been starting in August for a number of reasons, Sandoval said, including providing enough time to allow for a two-week winter break, so the semester’s end coincides with the winter break and the school year ends before Memorial Day.
