The Denver school board voted unanimously Monday to revise a policy aimed at limiting how often schools can be closed or consolidated, giving the superintendent clearer guardrails to prevent annual campus closures.

If approved on its second reading by the Denver Public Schools Board of Education on May 15, the policy would — minimally — restrict closures to every three years. That means the district cannot close any additional schools before 2027.

The district adheres to a two-reading process — a common practice for policy-making bodies — to ensure transparency, deliberation and public input before a new policy or amendment is adopted.

Director Michelle Quattlebaum, who proposed the revision, said Monday that the measure was to “bring down the anxiety” and assure parents that more closures are not coming next year.

In the fall, the board unanimously approved closing seven schools and reconfiguring three others.

The schools closing at the end of this academic year are: Columbian Elementary, Castro Elementary, Schmitt Elementary, International Academy of Denver at Harrington, Palmer Elementary, West Middle School and Denver School of Innovation and Sustainable Design.

Kunsmiller Creative Arts Academy, Dora Moore and Denver Center for International Studies were restructured.

The closures — which are being challenged in court — are expected to produce a net savings of $6.6 million for the district.

Half of the impacted schools are in southwest Denver, which has and is expected to continue experiencing the greatest student loss.

Officials have blamed Denver’s skyrocketing home costs, declining birth rates and gentrification as the forces driving the district’s enrollment declines.

Dollars follow students in Colorado. Fewer student means less funding.

DPS has adopted a policy governance model — which represents a shift for the district — that establishes “executive limitations” that define the superintendent’s responsibilities and relationship to the board. In theory, the new model allows the board to focus on advancing its vision for the district.

Before embarking on the school closures last fall, the board created Executive Limitation 18 — also referred to as “EL-18” — that restricts the superintendent from using low enrollment and test scores as the sole rationalize for closing a school.

The language approved Monday restricting how frequently the superintendent can seek closing schools was added to EL-18.

The board also voted on a new policy requiring the superintendent to develop school boundaries that account for the district’s changing demographics and housing trends.

The vote came nearly six months after approving the closure of seven campuses.

Director Scott Esserman, who proposed the new policy, reminded the board that the impetus for the new policy came from students.

“I definitely see the community voice reflected in here,” Board President Carrie Olson said.

This vote was also unanimous, sending the new policy to a first read, which will occur at the board’s next regular meeting.

The measure calls for a review of the enrollment zones every five years in conjunction with the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. If approved at second reading, the review would begin in the 2026-2027 academic year.

Broadly speaking, school districts typically consider school boundaries in response to increases or decreases in student enrollment; to address overcrowding or underutilization; or when opening or closing schools.

Over the past two years, the board has closed 10 schools, including seven in November.

The board last considered adopting this policy, called Executive Limitation-19, two weeks after closing Denver Discovery, Mathematics and Science Leadership Academy and Fairview Elementary in 2023.

Richard Nixon was president of the United States the last time the district reviewed school boundaries.

Board members also approved advancing a new policy that restricts how the superintendent determines facility use after a school closure.