Overview:
DPS is making difficult budget decisions, such as reducing staff and headquarters spending, as enrollment falls and costs rise.
Denver Public Schools is warning that years of declining enrollment and rising operational costs are beginning to force tough decisions across the district. At Bradley International Elementary School, those pressures will cost the school its longtime librarian, leaving teachers and families worried about what comes next.
“The only thing that will turn this around is if birth rates level off or if there are families moving into the system,” DPS Chief Financial Officer Chuck Carpenter said at a recent school board meeting work session and public comment on Thursday, May 7. “I think for the foreseeable future, we should be probably planning for declining enrollment.”
Last year, DPS closed or partially closed 10 schools because of shrinking enrollment, a move district officials estimated would save millions of dollars. Afterward, the school board approved a four-year moratorium on additional school closures. But Superintendent Alex Marrero recently indicated the district likely will not make it through the full pause.
“We will not exhaust the moratorium [this year],” Marrero said. “I can’t say it will be next year. I have good confidence that it could be the following year. Surely the year after that.”
District leaders say the budget problems stem from several overlapping issues: lower birth rates, rising housing costs pushing families out of Denver, increasing utility expenses and growing demand for special education services. Because Colorado school funding is tied largely to enrollment, fewer students mean less state funding.
At the same time, DPS officials say the district is spending more to support students with disabilities and maintain school operations. Although overall enrollment dropped by roughly 1,200 students this year, the number of students requiring special education services increased by 1.5%, according to district data. DPS has added 25 specialized programs for students with disabilities over the past six years and plans to add nine more next year.
To help reduce costs, the district laid off the equivalent of 61 full-time central office employees this spring, saving about $8.1 million. Combined with cuts made last year, DPS says it has reduced headquarters spending by $12.7 million over the past two years.
“We’re long gone from the days of being a bloated central office,” Marrero said. “Now what we’re balancing is some requests from schools for support. The more that we trim, the more likely that we’re going to get yearnings from school sites saying, ‘Hey, we’re not getting support.’”
Now those financial pressures are increasingly reaching classrooms and school libraries.
At Bradley International Elementary, librarian Stacy Nishioka learned earlier this year that her full-time position would be eliminated next school year because of budget constraints tied to declining enrollment. Nishioka has worked at Bradley for 20 years and says the library became a core part of the school community during her time there.
“I was told it was a budgetary issue, and I’m not exactly sure what downtown is saying,” Nishioka said. “I just know here at Bradley I was told it was a budgetary issue.”
The news devastated her.
“It was really hard. When I found out, I cried,” she said. “I’ve been here for so long, and I’ve worked on so many relationships with so many people, so that’s really hard, leaving the kids.”
Bradley plans to keep its library open by replacing Nishioka with a paraprofessional, though teachers say the loss of a certified librarian will still significantly impact students.
“The library teaches them to care for books, the importance of books and skills that they won’t necessarily get from classroom teachers,” said kindergarten teacher Megan Eggleston.
Eggleston said Bradley’s library became exceptional because of Nishioka’s dedication to the role.
“I would put it against any library and say that we have probably the best library in the district, if not any surrounding district,” Eggleston said. “And that’s because we have a full-time librarian who really cares about her job and really values the importance of what a library does.”
Nishioka was offered a half-time technology teacher position at Bradley but declined after learning about a full-time librarian opening at McMeen Elementary School. Marrero emphasized that DPS is not directing schools to eliminate librarian positions. Instead, schools receive budgets based on enrollment and determine independently how to spend those funds.
“It’s not a district decision that we’re saying no librarians — we would never do that,” Marrero said. “Unfortunately, some school leaders and school-based decisions have impacted librarians.”
Still, he acknowledged the importance of the role.
“I don’t see any other role that could be more impactful,” Marrero said. “If you can ignite excitement in reading and have a kid not only learn to read but love to read, that changes the trajectory of a scholar.”
As DPS prepares for more years of declining enrollment, district leaders say schools will continue facing difficult trade-offs about staffing, programs and resources. Marrero acknowledged that these decisions would have “a tremendous impact” on schools, but characterized it as a “trade-off” that was “necessary.”
Although some positions and programs will be eliminated, Marrero urged people to “look deeper into what other programs they may be funding. Because again it’s a trade-off, they’re saying no to a librarian, but perhaps they’re maintaining something else, so again I would look there.”
