The Denver Public Schools plan to close eight under-enrolled and poorly-performing schools is a thoughtful, focused effort that puts the needs of children first.
Displaced students arguably will have better educational opportunities since the district is using this moment to open five new programs that are not business-as-usual attempts at schooling.
For those reasons, Superintendent Michael Bennet and the cast of two dozen administrators who worked on the plan deserve credit.
However, the plan is going to go down hard in neighborhoods that are losing schools. And that’s understandable. We urge parents and community members to attend the meetings set up to explain the plan and address concerns.
Also, the closures are not going to be the money-saver once envisioned. At the outset, there was talk about closing as many as 40 of DPS’s 150-plus schools, which would have saved much more, perhaps $15 to $20 million, for the financially strapped district.
The smaller scale effort will mean $3.5 million in savings — most of which is to be plowed back into better serving the most needy children in DPS. That is a wise investment, even if it isn’t as great as once contemplated.
However, there is one tenet of the plan that initially gave us pause — the transfer of some Hallett Elementary students to Smith Elementary. Smith has been rated an unsatisfactory school, and part of the larger reasoning to justify closures has been that students would go to a better educational environment.
Bennet makes a compelling argument about Smith’s upward trend. About 40 percent of students tested in 2006 and 2007 showed improvement in reading and writing. Those students testing proficient or better in math and reading has increased about 10 percent.
The community will be watching closely to make sure that the decision to send more students to Smith is a good one.
Certainly, there will be upset and turmoil as the plan sinks in. But it seems to us that there’s a lot to like about an effort that exacts significant financial savings, disrupt as few students as possible and provides some intriguing new educational opportunities.
