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Denver Public Colleges’ superintendent must “analyze and modify” college enrollment boundaries each 10 years or much less below a proposal being thought of by the varsity board.
Board member Scott Esserman, who launched the proposal Thursday, mentioned it was a very long time coming. The district hasn’t systematically reviewed its college boundaries in a number of a long time, because it was the topic of a college desegregation lawsuit that led to widespread busing.
The proposal, referred to as Government Limitation 19, would require the superintendent to investigate and modify college boundaries together with the federal Census.
It will direct the superintendent to solicit suggestions from the group, create “protected and accessible” strolling routes to high school, and decrease the strolling distance inside every boundary to cut back the necessity for district-provided transportation.
The board has not but set a date to vote on the proposal.
In 1969, eight Denver households sued the district over the rescinding of a number of resolutions to combine Denver’s colleges, together with by means of boundary adjustments. The court docket case, referred to as Keyes v. College District No. 1, went all the way in which to the U.S. Supreme Courtroom and resulted in Denver Public Colleges adopting a posh, cross-city system of busing to combine its colleges.
After busing resulted in 1995, many Denver colleges as soon as once more turned segregated by race and household earnings. Within the case of the East and Handbook highschool boundaries, former college board members have mentioned their determination in 1995 exacerbated the divide.
The proposed Government Limitation 19 would require the superintendent to keep away from creating enrollment boundaries or enrollment zones — that are large boundaries containing a number of colleges — that “socioeconomically segregate colleges.”
However the energy to forestall such segregation by means of boundary adjustments is difficult as a result of about 42% of DPS college students select to attend a college that’s not their “boundary college,” in response to district knowledge.
College selection, or the flexibility for college kids to use to attend any public college, is enshrined in Colorado legislation. DPS’ one-stop software makes it simple — and within the case of scholars who stay in enrollment zones, all however necessary — for households to make use of college selection.
Board members on Thursday acknowledged that they’d should grapple with college selection.
“I’m nearly afraid to think about the complexity of how college selection layers into this dialog,” board member John Youngquist mentioned.
Some dad and mom and college students have urged that altering college boundaries might assist handle one other downside: declining enrollment at some colleges.
College students at West Excessive College requested the district final yr to reevaluate West’s boundary. Denver funds its colleges per scholar, and West college students mentioned declining enrollment at their college meant it didn’t provide as many enterprise, language, or artwork lessons as bigger excessive colleges.
Low enrollment additionally places colleges in danger for closure. The varsity board voted in 2023 to shut three small colleges that yr and once more in November to shut or partially shut one other 10 colleges with low enrollment on the finish of this college yr.
However the pervasiveness of faculty selection might imply college boundary adjustments wouldn’t really repair that downside, board members mentioned.
District knowledge exhibits that at a few of the elementary colleges set for closure this spring, a major variety of the scholars who stay within the boundary selected different colleges this yr. At Columbian Elementary College, greater than 80% of scholars who stay within the boundary selected to attend a college aside from Columbian, district knowledge exhibits.
“I don’t suppose we will repair any of our enrollment points by shifting enrollment boundaries,” Esserman mentioned. Nevertheless, he added that he believes shifting boundaries would permit the district to “enhance the way in which that we’re serving college students.”
The proposal is just like one floated by a former board member in 2023. Nevertheless, that proposal would have required the superintendent to investigate and modify college boundaries each 4 years. It additionally would have capped elementary college enrollment at 600 college students. The board voted in 2023 to postpone a dialogue on that proposal and by no means returned to it.
Melanie Asmar is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Colorado. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org.