Sign up for Chalkbeat Colorado’s free daily newsletter to get the latest reporting from us, plus curated news from other Colorado outlets, delivered to your inbox.Denver Superintendent Alex Marrero has long been critical of semi-autonomous innovation zones, and he doubled down this week by recommending that an elementary school not be allowed to join the district’s last remaining zone, the Luminary Learning Network.The students at Willow Elementary School are whiter and wealthier than the district as a whole. Marrero said Willow’s request to join the zone was “privilege coded as innovation.”“It’s very clear that I should not allow certain parts of our community to self-segregate,” he said. Speaking more bluntly than usual and with a tinge of frustration in his voice, Marrero laid out his case at a school board meeting Wednesday night. The decision of whether to expand the zone is up to the school board, which is set to vote next week.Innovation zones are a reform-era invention that allow district-run schools to operate with charter-like autonomy. Zone schools are overseen by nonprofit organizations, and their principals are supervised by the zone’s executive director, not district administrators.Marrero’s recommendation is another sign that school reform is dying in Denver. In his nearly five years as superintendent, Marrero has pushed for a more centralized approach to school improvement, which differs from the philosophy of past superintendents.The Luminary Learning Network was Denver Public Schools’ first innovation zone and is now the last one standing. It started in 2016 with four schools and has since expanded to eight, though it’s set to shrink to seven next year.Parents and teachers supportive of Willow Elementary’s request to join the Luminary Learning Network urged the school board to say yes to the expansion. Teachers said being connected with likeminded schools would allow them to share successful strategies. “Our students deserve more than a one-size-fits-all system,” said Outara Murer, a parent and paraprofessional at Willow.Marrero said there’s nothing innovative about innovation zones. He said he believes the benefits include “shopping for your supervisor,” the ability for the nonprofit to raise money from private foundations, and protection from district decisions about school closures.“Board members, you’ve been to these schools,” Marrero said. “Have you seen something that says, ‘My goodness, I have never seen that before. Let’s scale it.’ No.”When he asked a principal — whom he declined to name — what they got from being in the zone, the principal smirked, Marrero said. He said the principal told him “it’s always great when we have something unexpected” and then made “the money sign” with their hand.Luminary Learning Network Executive Director Bailey Holyfield said the zone occasionally applies for grants that benefit its schools. As for the zone schools not being innovative, Holyfield said structural or operational innovations are not always obvious to external observers.Two other innovation zones were dismantled under Marrero’s watch, including one that briefly counted Willow Elementary as a member. But Marrero said he’s not against all school flexibility. About 20% of Denver schools are innovation schools, which means they can choose their own bell schedule or curriculum, for example. Marrero’s children attend an innovation school, he said. But unlike schools in zones, standalone innovation schools are overseen by the district. The student demographics at Willow, which is located in the more affluent Central Park neighborhood in northeast Denver, are at the center of the disagreement. Nearly half of the students at Willow are white, and about 35% are from low-income families. While parents and teachers said Willow is becoming more diverse, Marrero said the school is still disproportionately privileged and would decrease the diversity of the innovation zone. That’s especially true, Marrero said, because another school, Ashley Elementary, is poised to leave the zone at the end of the school year and revert back to district control. Nearly all of the students at Ashley are Hispanic or Black and come from low-income families.“You all are asking me to avoid at all costs decisions that increase segregation,” Marrero said to the school board, referring to policies that direct him to prevent segregation. “This definitely moves further away from what you all are asking,” he said of Willow’s request. “Even if I would (approve it) — which I would not, because this is aligned to how I feel, as well — I simply cannot recommend approval, based on the policy.”Marrero also questioned whether joining the zone would benefit Willow academically. Willow does well on standardized tests, and Marrero said that would continue no matter what, partly because of “the student body.” White students in Denver score near the top in the state.Willow parents pushed back on that argument.“High achievement is not a reason to withhold support,” said Nicole Winchester, who has a fourth grader, a second grader, and a preschooler at Willow.Principal Catrina Pazo said Willow is currently an innovation school, but “not all of our flexibilities are consistently being honored.” Joining the zone “formalizes these conditions and connects us to a network with a strong track record of improving outcomes,” Pazo said.Parent Tara Gallagher said the Willow PTA has raised nearly $120,000 this year to pay for support staff positions and events such as movie nights and a trunk-or-treat. But she said the PTA is “increasingly concerned at how we can sustain this level of support,” especially as more students from low-income families enroll at the school.Zone supporters argued that Willow followed all of the steps required to join the zone, including that a majority of its staff voted in favor of joining. School board members Kimberlee Sia and John Youngquist also pointed that out. But Marrero said following the steps guarantees that a request will be considered, not that it will be granted.Holyfield said the district’s process for approving zones has shifted from reliable to discretionary.“That should be a concern to every board member,” she said.However, it was clear that the board was split, with some members supporting Marrero. “As a board, it is absolutely our responsibility to disrupt systems and structures that perpetuate inequities,” said board Vice President Monica Hunter, a former DPS teacher who once taught at Willow but is opposed to the school joining the zone. “And I don’t see how adding in a school where the PTA can easily raise $100,000 and there’s a lot of privilege (does that).”Melanie Asmar is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Colorado. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org.
