KUSA-TV
Parents protested the decision to close Gilpin Montessori School.
Parents protested the decision to close Gilpin Montessori School.
Parents protested the decision to close Gilpin Montessori School.
Parents protested the decision to close Gilpin Montessori School.
Parents protested the decision to close Gilpin Montessori School.

Planned school closure in Denver prompts parent protests

Jan. 20, 2017
The district is closing Gilpin Montessori School because of subpar performance and low enrollment.

Parents in a Denver neighborhood are protesting the school district's decision to close a school at the end of the 2016-17 year.

KUSA-TV reports that the school board decided to close Gilpin Montessori School in the Five Points neighborhood after receiving poor reviews of the schools performance.

Parents accuse the district of manipulating the reviews, but Denver Superintendent Tom Boasberg says the reviews were done independently and the district didn't play any role or influence them.

The closure means 170 kids students will have to find a new school in the fall.

Parents demonstrated their anger over the closure Thursday evening by walking from the school to the district's main office.

An independent assessment by the group SchoolWorks gave Gilpin a low rating, and that persuaded the school board to vote to close it.

"The kids weren't learning at the rate that they needed to learn in order to catch up and have the kind of opportunity in the future that they and their parents care about," says Boasberg.

A total of 16 schools went through the independent review. Three schools—Gilpin, Greenlee and Amesse Elementary—were all on the list to either be closed or drastically improved.

Because of its low enrollment and how close it is to other schools, Gilpin was the only one that the board chose to shut down.

Video from KUSA-TV:

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