Denver Public School officials tearfully vote to close three schools

In an emotional special meeting Thursday, the Denver Public Schools Board of Education voted — with tears — to shutter three low-enrollment schools by the end of the academic year, ending months of public speculation and staff uncertainty.

The closing schools — Denver Discovery, Mathematics and Science Leadership Academy and Fairview Elementary — were singled out at the last board meeting in which district officials identified 12 other campuses most affected by student declines.

Superintendent Alex Marrero told the board he hadn't intended to bring his recommendations for closure until later in the month, but did so sooner at the urging of staff.

"The system cannot continue to function this way," Marrero said.

The board voted separately on each school.

Staff passed out tissues after the votes to tearful board members.

"This is hard for me," Board Secretary Michelle Quattlebaum said. "I do not like closing schools."

Quattlebaum represents District 4, which includes Denver Discovery School.

"DPS has failed you," Quattlebaum said. 

The closures mark an effort by the district to address a decade of declining enrollment, the basis for school funding. Denver Public Schools has a roughly $9 million budgetary shortfall this school year.

All the votes were unanimous except for Fairview, which passed with a 6-1 vote with Board Vice President Auon'tai M. Anderson voting against closure.

"We cannot sustain all of our schools at our current enrollment numbers," Anderson said.

In explaining his no vote on closing Fairview, Anderson said he took issue with the discrepancy between student forecasts between the district and the Denver Housing Authority.

'This is not OK'

Roughly 44% of the children in the area do not elect to attend their boundary school, said Liz Mendez, executive director of Denver Public Schools' enrollment and campus planning.

If more children move into the neighborhood with the expected development, district officials said Fairview could come back reimagined. 

Lower birth rates, skyrocketing home costs and gentrification have been identified as the biggest factors driving enrollment declines.

Board President Xóchitl Gaytán blamed, in part, city leadership and development for exacerbating the gentrification in the Sun Valley, which Fairview Elementary serves.

“Fairview is a community of people that live in poverty and with that comes a lot of disadvantages and oppression,” Gaytán said. “This is not OK.”

Najah Abu Serryeh, whose daughters attended Fairview Elementary, cried after the vote.

"It's not our fault," Abu Serryeh said. "We wanted them to wait one or two years until the families come back."

All three schools have fewer than 120 students, but middle school Denver Discovery is projected to have just 62 students next school year.

With fall enrollment falling short of projections at these troubled schools, board members and the public expressed concern that the closure discussion last fall could have suppressed registration numbers.

The only criterion for closure district officials have publicly discussed is enrollment.

Quattlebaum suggested Thursday that the district also look at academic performance, deteriorating facilities and school budgets, in addition to declining enrollment.

Two of the three — Denver Discovery and Fairview Elementary — are on a state improvement plan, according to the Colorado Department Education. Only the teacher-led Mathematics and Science Leadership Academy meets academic expectations.

Under Marrero’s plan, starting next school year the Mathematics and Science Leadership Academy will move onto the Valverde Elementary campus and Fairview to Cheltenham Elementary.

The board is expected to receive additional closure recommendations from Marrero in coming months.