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By Melanie Asmar/Chalkbeat
Two Denver elementary schools are no longer at risk of closure for low test scores after a successful appeal bumped up the schools’ state ratings. But four others could still face that fate.
Cheltenham Elementary and Traylor Elementary are safe for now from what Denver Public Schools Superintendent Alex Marrero euphemistically refers to as “reimagining.” A new DPS policy calls for closing schools with persistently low state ratings.
The policy, called the School Transformation Process, went into effect this year. But the soonest any DPS schools could close would be in the spring of 2027.
The Colorado Department of Education rates schools on a color-coded scale. Green is the highest, followed by yellow, orange, and red. The ratings are largely based on standardized test scores.
Cheltenham and Traylor were initially given orange ratings this fall. About 12% of Cheltenham students and 18% of Traylor students in grades 3-5 met or exceeded expectations on state literacy tests last spring. In math, those percentages were 4% and 14%, respectively.
DPS asked the state to reconsider both schools’ ratings. The district submitted early literacy test scores to show that Cheltenham and Traylor students who were too young to take state standardized tests were making academic progress, DPS officials said. DPS did not provide that data Tuesday.
The state education department granted DPS’ request, and recently increased Cheltenham and Traylor’s ratings to yellow, making both schools safe from the district’s new closure policy. That’s because the policy only applies to schools that have earned orange or red ratings for four years or more.
But four other schools are still at risk of closure under the policy: John F. Kennedy High, Oakland Elementary, Rocky Mountain Prep Noel, and Academy 360. The first three schools received orange ratings this year. Academy 360 got a green rating but because it has a longer history of low ratings, it could be at risk if its rating slips again.
If those four schools receive orange or red ratings next year, the superintendent will recommend them for closure. The school board could vote to close the schools for good at the end of the 2026-27 school year. Or it could vote to replace them with other, pre-approved school models.
Any replacement schools would open in the fall of 2027.
Marrero introduced the new policy 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 ratings, the State Board of Education can order a school to undergo an intervention. The harshest intervention is closure, but the State Board has rarely used 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.
