This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

DENVER (KDVR) — Education advocates, parents and supporters argued that school closures at Denver Public Schools, due to lower enrollment, are in predominantly Latino neighborhoods within the district.

The district said it’s aware of the impact closures have on communities.

Community activists said the whole process is happening without the involvement of families that could be directly affected by closures in communities with higher Latino populations.

“Many parents don’t know anything about what’s happening or what’s going to happen or that their schools are in danger of being closed,” Nallely Antunez said.

That concern is being echoed by members of a committee, Antunez among them, to recommend which campuses at Denver Public Schools could be closed due to lower enrollment.

“I think the DPS has not been transparent at all,” Karimme Quintana, a DPS parent, said.

Local education advocates worry the process to decide which schools will close will happen without parents in certain communities even knowing about it.

“Later on we’re just going to tell parents their schools have been closed, and that’s not fair or just or equitable,” Cathy Escamilla, from Congress for Hispanic Educators, said.

Access to information has lacked, according to some people involved in the process with DPS. They said the responsibility has fallen on them to share updates with parents, and they’re calling for that to change.

“Not so much playing this telephone game where we’re the ones that are supposed to be getting this message out,” Gladys Soto, a DPS parent, said.

A majority of members of the committee to recommend closures are DPS employees, while others are volunteers.

“This does not actually qualify as community input,” Julie Bañuelos, a former DPS educator, said.

One parent said this could be remedied by doing more to involve Hispanic parents.

“Host a forum that is specifically for those families to voice their concerns and also to fully understand the impact of what this will mean for their own communities,” Manuel Aragon said.

One committee member said more needs to be done to communicate to parents what could be lost if schools are closed, mainly, bilingual education programs.

“They need to know that with a school closure, means also a closure of programs,” Dr. Cynthia Trinidad-Sheahan said.

A statement from Denver Public Schools on this issue reads, in part:

“It is a decision that the district and the declining enrollment advisory committee are taking very seriously. Ensuring equitable, high-quality educational programs for all students. Not only looking at the data, but they are listening to the community.”

Any school selected to close wouldn’t do so until the end of the 2023-2024 school year.

The committee is expected to have recommendations in May.