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Denver Public Schools would close or replace schools with persistently low test scores under a plan unveiled Thursday to boost academic performance and avoid state intervention.
“No disrespect to our State Board of Education, but what can they offer that we can’t do here locally?” Superintendent Alex Marrero said while explaining the plan at Thursday’s school board meeting. “I believe it’s our duty to serve our own in the land of local control.”
The plan builds on incremental changes Marrero has made in his nearly four years as superintendent, and it represents a sharp departure from the way previous superintendents approached school improvement. Instead of giving principals autonomy and flexibility to employ the strategies they deemed best for their schools, Marrero’s strategy groups low-performing schools together for centralized support and coaching from district experts.
“When we have given school leaders so much autonomy, that’s been great when those school leaders know how to leverage that autonomy,” said Joe Amundsen, the district’s executive director of school transformation, who will be leading the strategy.
“This is about the district’s way of doing instruction, doing school,” Amundsen said.
In another way, Marrero’s plan is a return to the strict accountability DPS had in place for low-performing schools a decade ago. Back then, the school board had a policy known as the School Performance Compact that called for closing schools with low test scores. The board only used it to close one school and replace two others before abandoning it due to pushback.
Marrero calls his plan the School Transformation Process. He pitched it Thursday as a way to beat what’s known as the state accountability clock, which ticks toward state intervention the longer a school struggles. After five years of low state ratings, based mostly on standardized tests, the State Board of Education can order an intervention.
The harshest possible state intervention is school closure. The State Board has never deployed it, but DPS could. Starting in 2026, the plan calls for “reimagining” schools with four years of low state ratings, which Marrero said means closing or replacing those schools.
A closure would mean the school shutters permanently. A replacement could mean the school stays open but is run by a different principal with different teachers, programming, and curriculum, and potentially a different school name.
Marrero’s plan is an administrative policy, so the Denver school board does not need to vote to approve it. But board members seemed receptive at Thursday’s meeting. Some peppered Marrero with questions about the details, while others emphasized the importance of making sure parents and educators understand the plan.
“I know that it’s better that we work with our schools than having the state come in,” said board President Carrie Olson, a former DPS teacher who worked at a school that was closed for low performance 10 years ago. “But I just can’t underscore enough the impact on a community when we replace or close a school.”
Both district-run and charter schools could face intervention
Twenty-five Denver schools are “on the clock,” meaning they’ve earned one of the two lowest state ratings — signified by the colors orange and red — at least once. One school, Abraham Lincoln High, has seven years of low ratings and is already undergoing state intervention.
But because it’s in the midst of a state-directed improvement plan, Lincoln High would be exempt from closure under Marrero’s plan, he said. So would Lake Middle School, which has four years of low ratings and could face state intervention soon. The Denver schools most at risk of closure would be those on the precipice of five years of low ratings in 2026.
Currently, four Denver schools are on that trajectory, according to a district presentation: John F. Kennedy High School, Rocky Mountain Prep Noel middle school, Highline Academy Northeast elementary school, and Academy 360 elementary school.
The latter three are charter schools, which are authorized by the district but run independently. Marrero said he hopes the School Transformation Process will apply to charter schools too, so that all of Denver’s approximately 200 schools are held to the same quality standard.
“This allows us to say very firmly that we have a bar, and it’s the same bar,” Marrero said.
But agreeing to the plan would require Denver’s more than 50 charter schools to give up a key right. By state law, if a district tries to revoke a charter school’s authorization or close it, the charter school can appeal to the State Board of Education. Marrero said he’s asking Denver charter schools to forgo that appeal, but it’s “not an altogether all-in agreement yet.”
The plan will go into effect in August. In the fall, the state will release its latest school ratings based on standardized tests students took last month. But no schools will be eligible for replacement or closure in the 2025-26 school year. Instead, they might face what Marrero called “reconfiguration,” which could include shrinking a school by removing some grade levels.
The potential for closure or replacement will start in 2026-27, Marrero said. The district will solicit applications each December for replacements for any schools with four years of low ratings. The school board will vote on those applications by June 30 of the following year. The board would also have to vote on any permanent school closures, a district spokesperson said.
The board recently voted to close or partially close 10 schools next month due to declining enrollment, a controversial decision that upset many families. But Marrero said that while this process may encounter the same pushback, the purpose is different.
“We’ve been through the grueling process of school closure,” Marrero said. “But this is not because of enrollment. This is our duty to make sure we have an expectation … of quality in our schools.”
The district will also launch a new effort this fall meant to keep schools from closure. The Elevate Schools Network will be a cohort of eight elementary and K-8 schools that are on the clock or at risk of getting there. The goal is to provide the schools with staff training, coaching, and on-the-ground support to help them avoid the clock or get off it within two years.
“This is us being in schools and doing the work with our schools, not just telling them what to do and saying, ‘Good luck,’” said Amundsen, who is helping to lead the network.
The eight schools in the inaugural cohort will be Barnum Elementary, Cheltenham Elementary, Hallett Academy, John H. Amesse Elementary, McGlone Academy, Oakland Elementary, Place Bridge Academy, and Traylor Elementary.
Melanie Asmar is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Colorado. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org.
