Denver Public Schools Superintendent Michael Bennet said Monday the district will not move its administrative offices into Manual High School.
DPS had been considering a move to Manual High, which reopened this fall after being closed for a year.
District officials say the move would have saved the district money by using one of its existing facilities, shown a commitment to the rejuvenated school and brought administrators closer to the students.
The district is looking for new headquarters because it is selling its offices at 900 Grant St.
During a meeting Monday about DPS’s reform efforts, Bennet said the move to Manual had drawn both praise and criticism and the district was now dropping the idea of a Manual move.
Former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb said on Tuesday Manual alumni had not supported the move because they could not see why adding the administration to the building would improve the school.
Alumni were upset that the district did not consider empty buildings it already owns and did not like the idea that students would be separated from the administration.
Also, Webb polled the North City Park Civic Association, which was 52-5 against the Manual move.
“There were a lot of alumni who were not pleased about about the idea without a thorough discussion,” Webb said. “And the superintendent should get credit for the decision he made when there is not a clear consensus.”
People had been upset that the Manual plans called for putting air conditioning into administrative offices but not the classrooms.
Retrofitting the entire school for air conditioning would cost more than $8 million, school officials say.
“We are on hold on all the options at this point,” said Alex Sanchez, district spokesman. “We’re not actively pursuing any other options at this point. Options in the past have been West High and North High. But all of that is on hold.”
Providing air conditioning only to the administrative offices, which are occupied year-round, would cost less than $1 million, school officials say.
The district is selling its longtime offices , which are in disrepair and cost $500,000 a year to maintain, officials said.
Jeremy P. Meyer: 303-954-1367 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com.
