Denver Public Schools Superintendent Alex Marrero provided an update regarding school closures and consolidations within the district on Thursday during a monthly board of education meeting.

Marrero announced the advisory committee members had been chosen and will be named at a later date. The committee is made of 33 members of all different backgrounds, demographics and occupations.

Marrero said during the meeting there was an emphasis on creating a diverse committee that represents the student population of the district. As a result, the committee is made up of a majority of people who identify as Latino/Hispanic, Black/African and Native/Indigenous.

Enrollment declines could lead to DPS schools closing, consolidating

Additionally there is representation from all parts of the district, including those most at risk because of decreasing enrollment in the southwest and central region. 

“Committee members includes a strong representation of teachers, parents and family members and school leaders,” Marrero said.

Seven meetings between March 9 and May 11 will be held by the committee to determine the criteria used to determine whether a school should close or consolidate. Marrero said during January’s board of education meeting that elementary enrollment has been steadily declining in the district since 2015 and is an indicator for future enrollment. 

When students go elsewhere, money is allocated to other districts. For instance, the loss of 6,000 students would result in the loss of $78 million, Marrero said last month.

The current timeline for consolidations and closures wouldn’t impact schools until the 2024-2025 academic year. However, there are some schools – that were unnamed – who may need an accelerated timeline and could close or consolidate following the 2023-2024 school year. 

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“We do not have that magic list yet,” Marrero said during Thursday’s meeting. “We have to engage with school leaders who sometimes may be yearning for this type of support.”

The board also passed several items through its consent agenda, including the issuance of new funding and bond premium allocation for the district’s 2020 Bond Projects. 

The bond projects were anticipated to cost $795 million but during the bond sale the district received an additional $101 million in funds referred to as bond premium or premium. Prior to the meeting, $71 million remain unallocated to specific projects, according to a district document.

The board approved the allocation of $55.5 million that will only go towards projects within the bond initiative that are currently projected to go over budget due to a number of reasons, but mainly because of inflation, officials said. 

The total projected cost for ten of the projects are currently $10.4 million over budget. The biggest are adding a cooling system at West High School – currently $3.5 million and the Montbello High School project that’s $30 to $35 million over budget.

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“A lot of the construction costs and some inflationary costs are coming in higher than we anticipated,” said Chuck Carpenter, the chief financial officer for the district. “Essentially this is asking the board to authorize the release of bond funds to cover those projects, so that we can deliver the scope that we promised voters back in 2020.”

Other things approved in the consent agenda included the approval of awarding a contract to build the Loretto Heights Soccer Field and approving middle school summer programs with generation teach.

At the beginning of the meeting, the board honored former Montbello and South High School football coach Tony Lindsay Sr. for his three decades of service to the district. The board also established and proclaimed Dec. 10 as Dr. Sharon Bailey Day.