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By Melanie Asmar/Chalkbeat
A former Denver Public Schools teacher who worked on districtwide equity initiatives and whose son is a DPS student is running to represent central-east Denver on the school board.
DJ Torres, who described himself in an interview as “super pro-union” and “extremely pro-public education,” is vying for the District 3 seat currently held by school board President Carrie Olson. Olson is barred from running for reelection due to term limits.
Torres, 40, taught special education at Montbello High School before DPS closed it in 2010 for low test scores. (It has since reopened.) Torres also taught special education at DPS’ Florence Crittenton High School, which serves pregnant and parenting teen mothers.
After earning a Ph.D. in California, Torres returned to Denver and took an equity-focused job in DPS’ central office, where he helped write and implement a 2020 school board resolution to make the district’s curriculum more inclusive of Black, Latino, and Indigenous history.
Torres left DPS to work on equity initiatives for former Denver Mayor Michael Hancock’s office. His most recent job was with Sandy Hook Promise, a national gun violence prevention nonprofit started by family members of victims of the Sandy Hook school shooting.
Torres said he was inspired to run for school board by the current political moment, which he described as “a time of national political unrest, where public education is under attack,” and by his son, who attends the family’s neighborhood school, McMeen Elementary.
“The really specific and unique charge of having a son who’s daily impacted by the ways we’re doing this work as a district, I thought now is a perfect time for me to want to run and be a systems-level changer,” Torres said.
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.
Torres identifies as Latino and openly queer. When he and his partner adopted their son, Torres said they felt strongly about wanting to enroll him in DPS.
If elected, Torres said he would focus on improving school safety through “softening” measures such as expanding mental health services for students and helping them feel connected to their school community, which he said lessens the likelihood of school-based violence.
Torres said he’d also advocate for better teacher pay and equity in class sizes, both of which are major issues for the Denver Classroom Teachers Association.
“How do we say we’re an equity district when some students are one of 35 and some students are one of 20?” Torres said.
Torres said “supporting immigrant, refugee, and vulnerable populations is really key,” and he’d work to improve services for English language learners and students with disabilities.
The Denver school board recently voted to close or partially close 10 schools due to declining enrollment. Torres said he recognizes the student population is shrinking, but DPS can do more to include the community in the decisionmaking process.
“I don’t think anyone wants to be dealt hard news in a transactional way,” he said. “They want a role.”
Torres said he opposes closing schools based solely on student test scores.
The school board is responsible for hiring and firing the superintendent. Torres said that while many voters have asked if he supports Superintendent Alex Marrero, he doesn’t believe it’s constructive for new board members to step into the role with their minds made up.
“I’m committed to being a very good employer to what I hope will be a very good employee,” he said.
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.
