Press Release

Proposal To Consolidate Three Elementary Schools Shelved

January 22, 2001

During a work session late Friday afternoon, the Denver Board of Education agreed to shelve the idea of consolidating three small-enrollment elementary schools into one.

The idea had been considered by district staff as one means of saving money - about $300,000 annually. The Board of Education had also agreed that the idea was worth pursuing.

The names of Asbury, McKinley-Thatcher, and Rosedale elementary schools - all small-enrollment schools in southeast Denver - had been floated as possible candidates for consolidation.

But Friday the Board said there simply isn't enough time to implement such a decision before the beginning of the 2001-2002 school year.

That decision was fueled in part by an increase in anticipated revenues from the state of Colorado. *Original Denver Public Schools estimates called for a 2.9 percent inflation rate based on the year 1999 rate for education; an estimate from the state Department of Education today said schools can anticipate a year 3.6 percent year 2000 inflation rate for determining basic state funding. To DPS, that represents a revenue gain of $4.2 million.

Board members asked district staff to reconsider many of its key budget recommendations in wake of the adjustment. The estimated budget deficit remains about $23 million.

Board President Elaine Gantz Berman also said the issue of small-enrollment schools as possible sources for efficiency should not disappear. She and other Board members called for a "longer-term" look at the costs, benefits, and equity of maintaining small schools.