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After hundreds of people attended regional meetings and more than 3,000 filled out a survey about the factors Denver Public Schools should consider when redrawing school boundaries, district officials have decided not to do it.
The Denver school board passed a policy last year that requires the district to analyze and adjust school boundaries every five years, starting this school year. But Superintendent Alex Marrero said in an email to families Thursday that he’s recommending the board “make no changes to school boundaries and enrollment zones this fall.”
At a board meeting last week, Marrero said it’s not because the boundaries are perfect as is. Rather, he cited declining district enrollment and the likelihood of more school closures.
“The data is incredibly clear,” Marrero said. “There is (an) opportunity for boundary shifts.”
But given steep enrollment declines, he said the district should not ask students “to navigate multiple rounds of enduring this type of pain,” referring to switching schools.
DPS’ enrollment is down 1,780 students this fall, which is about 300 more than the district was expecting. Given that, Marrero said he anticipates having to act on a clause in an ongoing four-year school closure moratorium enacted by the board that allows exceptions if there is a “substantial shift” in enrollment, funding, or another emergency.
“If there are school closures in the future, then school boundary or enrollment zone changes would likely be required as part of a closure,” Marrero wrote in his letter to families. “However, those changes would take place after the 2027-28 school year.”
Enrollment zones are big boundaries that contain several schools. Students who live in an enrollment zone are guaranteed a spot at one of the schools in the zone.
DPS hasn’t systematically examined its school boundaries since a court-ordered cross-city busing system put in place to racially integrate Denver’s schools ended in 1995.
The school board passed the new boundary policy last year in an attempt to help balance enrollment among schools. It requires the district to make adjustments “that account for shifting demographics and housing trends” and avoid creating boundaries that “further socioeconomically segregate schools.”
DPS held two community meetings about the policy last spring and six this fall. Feedback was mixed. At some schools where enrollment is declining, families and staff said they would welcome changes that could boost their student counts.
“Manual (High School) was disadvantaged when they drew the boundaries following the end of busing,” a parent in the Five Points neighborhood wrote in response to a district survey, according to an anonymous summary of the results. “It is time to right that wrong.”
But many families advocated fiercely against any boundary shifts.
“I bought a house for the schools in my area,” a parent in the North Park Hill neighborhood wrote. “So it could change the value of my home if you change the boundary. I like that my kids have gone to school with their peers since kindergarten.”
The school board is now considering consolidating the boundary policy, called Executive Limitation 19, with its policy on school closures, called Executive Limitation 18. The proposed consolidated policy would still call for the district to analyze school boundaries every five years, but would only require adjustments “when reasonably warranted.”
At last week’s meeting, board member Marlene De La Rosa suggested changing the timeline from five years to 10 years to line up with the U.S. Census, and so any boundary changes would “only potentially have one impact on a family during the course of their time in DPS.” The board could vote on the consolidated policy as early as the end of this month.
Melanie Asmar is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Colorado. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org.