Equity or Empty Promises: The Fight for Denver’s Schools
As the former Vice President of the Denver School Board, I have been involved in difficult decisions about school closures — sometimes supporting them and other times resisting them. However, what I cannot support — and what our community should not tolerate — is the current approach Denver Public Schools is taking with school closures.
Fairview Elementary: A Missed Opportunity to Listen to Communities:
During my time on the Denver School Board, I voted against closing Fairview Elementary, anticipating the growth expected in the Sun Valley neighborhood. The Denver Housing Authority (DHA) had forecasted that 970 new housing units would bring between 300 to 600 elementary-age children to the area — enough to keep Fairview viable. Despite these projections, the Board proceeded with the closure, merging students into Cheltenham Elementary. This decision overlooked future community needs, and now, as new families move into Sun Valley, there is growing interest in reopening Fairview, proving the school’s potential sustainability had been underestimated from the start.
Since the closure, families have faced transportation challenges, sending their children to distant schools, while students struggled to integrate into new communities unprepared to meet their needs. Superintendent Marrero has suggested that the district may reconsider using Fairview if enrollment increases, but this reactive approach exposes the district’s failure to plan with foresight. Fairview’s closure is a stark example of what happens when closures prioritize short-term logistics over meaningful community engagement and future planning — an error DPS must learn from to avoid repeating these costly mistakes.
Empowering Communities to Lead:
When a school community, having reviewed all the data, chooses to merge with a neighboring school or close, the district should honor and support that decision until it becomes financially impossible — just as it does with charter schools. If the community decides to keep the school open, the district must provide the necessary resources, along with clear benchmarks, to ensure its success. This process mirrors the accountability applied to charter schools under Colorado law, where closures depend not just on enrollment but on performance and financial health (C.R.S. § 22–30.5–110). Additionally, state law must be amended to grant district-run and innovation schools the same right to appeal closure decisions to the Colorado State Board of Education — just like charter schools — ensuring fairness and empowering local communities.
Precedents from Other States:
Models from New York and Chicago demonstrate how public schools can be protected and empowered. New York allows schools to appeal directly to the State Education Department, giving them a lifeline if they believe local decisions are unjust. Chicago, on the other hand, has implemented a moratorium on school closures through 2027 to mitigate the long-term harm closures inflict on marginalized communities. These examples highlight how school systems can balance accountability with equitable treatment and community voice.
The Problem with DPS’s Process:
The recent regional meetings conducted by DPS have been deeply flawed. Upon arrival, attendees are greeted by both armed and unarmed DPS security personnel, with weapons detection systems set up at the entrances. This heavy-handed presence discourages, rather than invites, community participation. Undocumented families, fearing any association with law enforcement, may see this as a barrier to attending. Likewise, Black families, historically over-policed and marginalized, are likely to feel alienated by these security measures. Ironically, these measures are not in place at most DPS schools but are deployed at a one-hour meeting with the superintendent and school board, creating an atmosphere of surveillance that dissuades meaningful engagement.
Furthermore, during these meetings, the Superintendent revealed a separate plan for public charter schools, noting that their renewals would come before the Board of Education. While this is routine, the suggestion that low enrollment could affect charter renewals is misleading. Under Colorado’s Charter Schools Act (C.R.S. § 22–30.5–110), enrollment alone is not grounds for closure or non-renewal. Charter schools are evaluated on academic performance, financial management, and their impact on students.
The Impact on Communities:
School closures disproportionately affect Black, Brown, and low-income families, destabilizing neighborhoods and disrupting lives. Schools are more than just educational spaces — they are community hubs, where relationships form and students find safety and support. When schools close, educators — often members of these same communities — lose their current jobs, further compounding the disruption. DPS’s cold, numbers-driven approach to school closures undermines the very principles of equity and inclusion it claims to uphold.
Performance Over Performance Theater:
DPS’s regional meetings are performative at best, with little evidence that the district is genuinely listening. The talking points remain the same — declining enrollment, budget cuts, and the need to “right-size” the district — while the deeper impacts of these decisions go unaddressed. The current Board of Education has been in power for nearly a year, yet the only significant policy it has enacted involves directing the superintendent on how to proceed with school closures. I had hoped that following the 2023 Trump-like campaigns run by special interest groups — asking, “Are you better off than you were four years ago?” — we would see meaningful reforms. However, the issues they campaigned on have not materialized, leaving Denver’s students and educators in the crossfire of adult politics.
A Path Forward:
DPS must shift its approach to one that genuinely empowers communities. Just as charter schools are given benchmarks and opportunities to appeal decisions, district-run schools deserve the same treatment. Granting all schools equal access to appeal processes ensures fairness and helps build trust between the district and the community. Moving forward, DPS must not only listen to parents, teachers, and students but also act on their input.
Denver’s children deserve leadership that fights for their schools, not leadership that hides behind performative gestures. The future of public education in Denver rests on decisions made today — and it’s time for meaningful change, grounded in fairness, accountability, and respect for the communities that depend on these schools.
Auon’tai Anderson
Former Vice President, Denver School Board
