Denver superintendent is not recommending any school boundary changes in response to new policy

Denver Public Schools Superintendent Alex Marrero is advising the school board to leave school boundaries and enrollment zones as they are for now. A policy adopted by the board last year directs the district to review and possibly adjust boundaries every five years, beginning this school year. Hundreds of people attended regional meetings and more than 3,000 completed a survey on the topic.

Marrero said the decision does not mean current boundaries are ideal. He pointed to falling enrollment and the chance of further school closures, saying students should not be put through repeated rounds of changing schools. District enrollment is down 1,780 students this fall, roughly 300 more than expected. He said he expects to use an exception in the board's four-year pause on closures, which allows for one if enrollment, funding or another emergency shifts substantially. If closures happen, boundary or zone changes would likely accompany them, but only after the 2027-28 school year.

Feedback was mixed. Families and staff at some schools with shrinking enrollment said they would welcome changes, while many other families strongly opposed them, with one parent citing home values. The board is also weighing merging the boundary policy with its school closure policy. The merged version would keep the five-year review but require adjustments only when reasonably warranted. One board member, Marlene De La Rosa, suggested a 10-year cycle. A board vote could come by the end of the month, the article says.