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Melanie Asmar/Chalkbeat
A Denver Public Schools principal whose schools champion blended learning tailored to each student’s academic level is running for an at-large seat on the school board.
Alex Magaña is the executive principal of Grant Beacon and Kepner Beacon middle schools, which also focus on character development and provide in-school enrichment activities.
Magaña, 56, began his career in DPS as a math teacher at the now-shuttered Kepner Middle School in 1998. Over the years, he has worked as a bilingual teacher for Spanish-speaking students, a math coach, an assistant principal, and a principal of innovation schools, which are district-run schools with increased flexibility and autonomy from district policies. Magaña is also the father of two children who graduated from DPS schools.
If elected, Magaña said his priorities would be creating safe and welcoming environments for students, ensuring students succeed academically and emotionally, and listening to the community and “holding people to what we are promising to our families.”
“The question is, ‘How are we including our families in decision making? What data are we looking at when making decisions that impact the lives of our students?’ I’d be pushing to be well informed to make those hard decisions,” Magaña said.
Magaña is running for the seat currently held by board member Scott Esserman, who has not announced whether he will run for reelection. Magaña lives in the Central Park neighborhood in northeast Denver, though the at-large seat represents the entire city.
Magaña said he would resign from his position as executive principal if he’s elected. District employees cannot serve on the school board due to conflict of interest rules.
Four seats on the seven-member Denver school board are up for grabs in November. Board members backed by the Denver teachers union currently hold the majority of board seats. But that could change in the Nov. 4 election, which comes at a key time for DPS.
Declining enrollment has led to more than a dozen school closures in the past two years, and the superintendent has put in place a policy for low-performing schools that could result in more closures. DPS has found itself in the crosshairs of the Trump administration over an all-gender high school restroom, and it has sued the federal government to protect immigrant students.
DPS achieved its highest-ever graduation rate last year, but some students are still recovering from pandemic-era learning loss. Many teachers are mad they were denied higher cost-of-living raises while the superintendent got a bonus. And the school board recently ordered an investigation of one of its members over allegations of racial discrimination.
“One thing I’m going to push on is, How do we bring people together?” Magaña said. “There’s been such division.”
Magaña has clashed with DPS Superintendent Alex Marrero. In 2023, Marrero recommended that the school board dissolve an innovation zone called Beacon Network Schools, which included Kepner Beacon and Grant Beacon. Innovation zones are groups of semi-autonomous schools overseen by nonprofit boards of directors, not by DPS.
Marrero objected to the fact that Magaña was a DPS employee but answered to the nonprofit board. The situation led to a lawsuit, which ended with a ruling in DPS’ favor. The school board dissolved the zone, but Magaña stayed on as executive principal.
Magaña and Marrero also gave opposing testimony on a bill in the state legislature in 2022, which led DPS to send a letter to all principals prohibiting such advocacy during work hours.
But Magaña said he has no animosity toward Marrero.
“After it was all said and done, we sat down and shook hands,” Magaña said. “There are zero issues with the superintendent.”
Magaña said he believes in setting high academic standards for schools — “Mediocrity is not OK,” he said — and involving families and educators in difficult decisions about school closures, whether the reason is for low performance or declining enrollment.
“You can’t cause such a traumatic event without having a next step,” Magaña said. “We know this is going to happen, so what are we going to do with the building? Where are we at as far as getting input from the community? If you do those two things, the community will support it.”
Melanie Asmar is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Colorado. Contact Melanie at [email protected].
Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.
