DPS Board Needs to Perform Their Elective Duty and Vote for Equal Representation

Latino Education Coalition of Denver

Posted: February 15, 2024

The Denver Public Schools (DPS) is currently reviewing the process of redistricting, that is, potentially “redrawing” the boundaries of the five districts held by the five school board members of DPS; there are also two “At-Large” members, for a total of seven members. Following each United States Census—the last one was 2020—DPS considers “redrawing” the boundaries to better reflect and represent their constituents as they vote on issue of concern to the public. The first results of the 2020 census were available in April of 2021, with additional metrics following on updated schedules (see “2020 Census Timeline of Important Milestones”).

We implore the Board to do their elective duty, and vote in March 2024 for equal representation in the districts and select the LEC choice, Map B.

The Latino Education Coalition of Denver (LEC) urges The Weekly Issue/El Semanario readers, in Denver and our additional readership elsewhere, to consider getting involved in reaching out to the DPS Board and other relevant school boards to consider such important redistricting efforts, where applicable. In Denver, Colorado Revised Statutes § 22-31-131 “requires DPS to redistrict after each federal census.” For detailed information, see the DPS data, “Board Redistricting Recommendation” here. The report was published by Denver Public Schools on February 27, 2023, proposing to provide the new boundary lines for each of the five DPS Board Director districts, that is, School Board members. We note that since the census was conducted in 2020, the Board was already behind in accomplishing this legal requirement as outlined in the CRS Statute 22-32-131 noted above; by our account, this redistricting could have, and should have, been accomplished in either 2021 or no later than 2022. However, the Board has indicated they intend to vote on this matter in March of this year.

Among additional important criteria dictated in this Statute are the following:

1) Balance in total population (the districts need to have equal population with less than 10% deviation.)

2) That the Voting Rights Act be followed (there will be no diluting of any community’s interests, influence, and voice.)

3) Must have Contiguous Compact (there will be no gerrymandering to create a district for a person or an entity.)

4) Must follow precinct lines without splitting them (a precinct cannot be split in half.)

In 2023, the DPS Board of Directors and the Superintendent reached out to the community for input, but they received a low percentage of responses. Nevertheless, the Board of Directors were obligated to vote on the new district lines, because they were already behind in the redistricting calendar since the 2020 census results had been made available earlier. The Board of Directors is the only elected governing body that draws its own district lines.

Because of this responsibility, the Board, instead of completing their obligation, apparently engaged mostly in heated disagreements with each other, about other distracting issues, so they essentially put this eminently significant issue on hold. This tabled issue has resulted in an election that took place in November 2023 based on the 2010 census, and not on the 2020 census, as required. Therefore, this dereliction of duty leaves this Board at legal jeopardy because Denver voters, who provide the tax base for funding, can challenge that the two Directors that were just elected in November are not representative of Districts 3 and 5, because by our understanding their districts do not reflect the 2020 census.

To better understand the criteria required for redrawing the District boundaries, and the issues surrounding this process, readers will want to further review the “Board Redistricting Recommendation”. For example, it is imperative that the school board decide upon and correct the inequality and inequity in the skewed district representation, especially affecting the diversity in the respective five districts. Currently, for example, by our calculations the impact on District 4 in Map B provides a more stable and equitable representation for the African American population; see especially the “Analysis of Legal Requirements” section of the report.

Of the four proposed maps—A, B, C, and D—the Latino Education Coalition considers only A and B as worthy of consideration. Further, we support Map B, especially because of the more equitable representation for African Americans. For example, the “Analysis of Legal Requirements” notes, “The largest percent change in each of the scenarios is highlighted. Scenario D has the highest change in ethnic group concentration,” to their apparent detriment.

It is also important that the School Board not go to the drawing board again, because at least the work that was achieved in 2023 does provide the four maps, A, B, C, and D. We urge the Board to not hire more staff and consultants and thereby waste additional taxpayer dollars by dragging out this redistricting process.

The Latino Education Coalition of Denver