Author: Nicole C. Brambila
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Parents worry DPS bus service cuts will make getting to school more dangerous
Dallas Rael rode her Gotrax scooter – which tops out at 20 miles an hour – through the backstreets of downtown Denver from her home near Paco Sánchez Park to Morey Middle School on the first day of school. The scooter’s battery died near school and the single mom had to Uber home after dropping…
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DPS welcomes students back to school as CSOs, SROs strive for safety
Ten-year-old Felix Jones rode to school Monday on a bike, winding through downtown with his parents and younger brother. The 2.1-mile trek to Downtown Denver Expeditionary School – his alma mater – felt more like 10 miles to Jones, who still had to ride another 2 miles to his school, McAuliffe Manuel Middle School. On…
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As cops return to Denver schools, Denver police chief says they’re not ‘be all, end all to safety’
At a press conference on Aug. 18, Denver Chief of Police Ron Thomas and two school resource officers discussed the impending return of the officers to Denver Public Schools the following week. Tom Hellauer tom.hellauer@denvergazette.comTomHellauertom.hellauer@denvergazette.comhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a3dc80c0a9d47d671f1f3da872cc0a06?s=100&d=mm&r=g The Denver Police Department plans to deploy the same number of armed police – called school resource officers – installed…
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Colorado schools’ test scores show uneven landscape, lingering effects of pandemic
Colorado Schools’ Road to Recovery logoThe Denver Gazette New student assessment data paints a mixed picture of Colorado’s schools, showing incremental and inconsistent academic improvement across the state, including the Denver metro area, and demonstrating the haunting reverberations of learning loss as schools struggle to escape the clutches of the pandemic. Educators say the “stair…
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Colorado test scores 2023: Look up your school or district
Colorado’s education board on Thursday released the results for the Colorado Measures of Academic Success, or CMAS, which annually measures student success. The data paints a mixed picture of Colorado’s schools, showing incremental and inconsistent academic improvement across the state, as well as the lingering reverberations of learning loss following the COVID-19 pandemic. Each spring,…
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Colorado lawmakers press insurance carriers to honor Friday Health Plan deductibles
A cadre of nearly 30 Colorado lawmakers urged state health insurance carriers in a letter Thursday to honor the payments former Friday Health Plan enrollees paid toward their deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums. To date, the Colorado Department of Insurance has reached agreements with Kaiser Permanente and Denver Health. Roughly 85% of Friday enrollees have access…
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Colorado struggles to track and educate kids in trouble with the law. Here’s how one student graduated, despite the odds
“Look at me now.” David Garcia meant those words for the school administrators who had written him off. His message – tinged with defiance, triumph, perhaps even pride – was about defying the odds for a high school dropout who longed for a diploma, but whose life has taken all too predictable detours. In June, he walked the stage…
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DPS Board investigates ‘incarceration room’ at McAuliffe International
DPS Vice President Auon’tai Anderson shared a video of a room at McAuliffe International that had an “incarceration room” where students were locked inside.Courtesy Auon’tai Anderson McAuliffe International – under the watch of recently-fired school principal Kurt Dennis – has had an “incarceration room” where students, likely those with disabilities, were locked inside, Denver Public…
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Lawsuit challenging DPS executive session cost $45K
With the Denver Public Schools executive session recording out and the legal battle for releasing it over, how much will the behind-closed-door meeting cost the district to fight? Roughly $45,000. That tally includes the outside counsel DPS used to defend the lawsuit as well as the legal costs incurred by the media outlets that brought…
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Denver Public Schools’ board curbs use of executive sessions
The Denver Public Schools Board of Education has twice rejected convening business behind closed doors since holding an unlawful executive session in March. At least three directors – including Board President Xóchitl Gaytán – have said they want to curb the board’s use of executive sessions in the wake of public criticism of their secret…