No school buildings are expected to be closed this year in Denver, but changes are coming for the district, which has 20 low-performing schools on probation and at least 15,000 unused seats in half-empty buildings.
In an effort to bring high-quality programs throughout Denver Public Schools, administrators Thursday presented to the school board a geographic snapshot of the state of the district.
The board learned the locations of the lowest-performing schools and what regions have unused capacity.
The upshot is that nearly every region has both problems:
• Northwest Denver, for example, is where 30 percent of classroom seats are empty and few high-performing school programs exist. The district suggested shared campuses could be opened at Lake Middle School, which has 449 available seats; Skinner Middle School with 714 available seats; West High School with 941 seats available; and North High with 648 available seats.
• Northeast Denver needs more capacity, especially in the Stapleton area. Shared campuses could be in Manual High School, which has 932 seats available; and Cole school that has 539 seats available.
• Southeast Denver needs better high school options. Potential shared campuses could be at Merrill Middle School with 556 available seats; Thomas Jefferson High with 553 seats available; and George Washington with 565 available seats.
• Far northeast Denver schools need major turnaround plans and an alternative school is necessary. The district suggested shared campuses could be at Martin Luther King school, which has 822 available seats, and the new Green Valley Ranch school campus that is under construction.
• Southwest Denver is also losing too many students to neighboring districts. A potential shared campus could be at Kennedy High, which has 815 seats available.
The discussion comes at a time when the district is experiencing its highest enrollment in 35 years and its academic growth is outpacing the rest of the state.
Nonetheless, DPS graduates only half of its students, faces a persistent achievement gap between low-income students and their wealthier peers and reports that just 50 percent of students are reading at grade level.
Next month, district officials will make recommendations to the board about where to place new school programs that were approved last year, which current programs should undergo serious turnaround plans and what buildings should become shared campuses.
Community meetings will be held around the district to present the data and discuss possible options.
The board’s final vote on the recommendations will be Nov. 19.
Superintendent Tom Boasberg said closing school buildings will not be in the plan.
But the district did reveal a new turnaround plan for chronically low-performing schools that range from intensifying support for the schools to closure.
Boasberg said he expects some schools to be either phased out or redesigned but their buildings will not be closed. Moreover, he expects to seek to reopen possibly two buildings that were shuttered last year — Fallis and Whiteman elementary schools.
Jeremy P. Meyer: 303-954-1367 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com
Meetings
• 6 p.m. Oct. 13, Bruce Randolph Middle School
• 6 p.m. Oct. 14, Montbello Recreation Center
• 9 a.m. Oct. 17, North High School
• 5:30 p.m. Oct. 19, South High School
• 7 p.m. Oct. 19, Abraham Lincoln High School
