A District's Shifting Approach to Attending to and Involving Community Perspectives

• In Event: Discipline, Disparities, and Community Engagement

Abstract

Denver Public Schools has implemented many market-based reforms over the last two decades that have transformed the landscape of public schooling. However, recently, the district has shifted its approach to reform and has attempted to be more attentive to local communities, and this shifting approach is best exemplified by the recent history of a neighborhood high school. Montbello High was closed in 2010 and transformed into a shared campus for nearly a decade, with little community input. Now, as the result of community feedback, it is slated to reopen. This significant shift in policy is an opportunity to examine a district’s shifting approach to attending to and involving community perspectives in consequential decisions about the future of their public schools.

Authors

• Wagma S. Mommandi, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Katherine Schultz, University of Colorado Boulder

• Elizabeth Tetu Bohl, University of Colorado - Boulder