DENVER (KDVR) — The closures at Denver Public Schools are only proposals for now, but they’re already a cause for concern for a lot of parents around the district.
Some are already making plans to move their children to another district, while others said they have no plan at all right now.
“No, no one is prepared,” Ivonne Porras, a DPS parent, said.
First the pandemic, now the shock of closure
Porras has a child at Valverde Elementary, which would unify with one of 10 schools proposed to be closed within the school system.
Steve Suranowitz has two sons at Columbian Elementary, among the schools that may close and combine with more students at Trevista.
“K through 8, with older kids, classes are going to be more crowded,” Suranowitz said. “The teachers might become more overwhelmed with another 200 kids going to that school.”
The issue for DPS has been a decline in enrollment, amounting to a loss of more than $61 million per year in funding, according to the district.
Suranowitz said education, not money, should be the bottom line for district leaders.
“That should be the focus with DPS. What is really going to serve the well-being of these children?” Suranowitz said.
Both parents cited the last two years as a challenge their children already faced.
“At first, we had the shock of the pandemic and now the decision was made that some schools will be closing,” Porras said.
“These kids just went through a pandemic, two years bouncing back from online and in-person and on and on, then all of a sudden you’re going to turn around and say we’re going to close your school now,” Suranowitz said.
DPS parents considering a move
Porras laid the challenges families could face soon right at the feet of DPS leadership.
“The administrators or superintendent at DPS aren’t going to be affected,” Porras said.
Suranowitz is already convinced his family will make a move if DPS closes his children’s school.
“I don’t know that we would send our boys to a larger school like that,” Suranowitz said.
For their part, DPS is calling this a “unification” of schools, because students at schools on the list of proposed closures will be sent to another campus. DPS said closures could impact 1,700 students in the coming school year.
