Denver Public School Closures

We can find enough money to build a new justice center in Denver and a new maximum security prison in Canon City. And we are closing schools in poor neighborhoods. The old adage rings true that you will get what you pay for.

Faced with dozens of half-empty buildings and low-performing schools, DPS officials are bracing for what could be the largest school closure in the city's history.

If schools are closed, officials' daunting task will include finding new schools for hundreds of displaced students and planning, neighborhood by neighborhood, for the impact shuttering buildings could have. People close to the process say that at least 10 schools could be closed by next year but that the tally may reach as high as 40 - about one-fourth of the city's total of 150.

That will require redesigning much of Denver Public Schools' educational infrastructure: revamping poor- performing schools, shifting thousands of students, and moving staff and resources to areas of growing demand.

But the biggest challenge is likely to be political. In Seattle, an attempt to close a dozen schools has prompted a court battle, parent-led protests and attempts to recall school board members.

In Oakland, Calif., district officials released criteria for several school closures - but ended up closing only four buildings this spring after a series of angry community meetings.

"There has been a lot of resistance," said Alex Katz, a spokesman for Oakland Unified School District. "I think people do understand the reasons for school closures, but people are attached to their schools."

All that helps explain Denver's cautious, step-by-step approach.

Six months into a public effort, with meetings and data presentations, district officials and school board members have only a draft list of criteria to help determine which schools to close.

A final list is not expected before fall.

And members of A+ Denver, an independent citizens panel working on the criteria for school closures, are insisting that a list of schools be accompanied by transition plans for kids who would be displaced.

"It will be insufficient to simply announce the closure of schools," said former Denver Mayor Federico Peña, a co- chairman of the committee.

The Denver Post