Bill’s Weekly Reflection: An Important Night for DSST
Last Thursday night, the Denver Public Schools’ Board of Education voted 5-2 to send a $450 million bond to voters in November. The bond will support maintenance, renovation, and construction of new school buildings in Denver. Why was this an important night for DSST?
DSST Public Schools has three significant construction projects recommended in this bond. Over the past year, a group of Denver citizens led a bond committee that reviewed all DPS building needs and prioritized projects. In June, this citizens committee placed a set of recommendations before the school board. Three of our campuses were deemed high-priority and included in the approved recommendations:
DSST: Cole Campus - Completing the renovations of the Cole building and renovating the Mitchell building to help accommodate a high school on that campus.
DSST: College View Campus - DPS is using proceeds from the 2008 bond to build a middle school. In this 2012 bond, money will be allocated to build a high school on that campus
DSST: Byers Campus - The complete renovation and addition of a new gym to the historic Byers middle school building to house our middle and high schools on that campus.
The community demand for DSST schools has played a large part in the inclusion of DSST’s projects. Both the Cole and Byers neighborhoods created local efforts to recruit DSST to the neighborhood and spoke out in the bond process to include DSST in the bond. A fully-enrolled 6th grade at our brand-new DSST: College View Middle School speaks to strong community support in southwest Denver.
DSST is proud of its strong partnership with Denver Public Schools. We have worked hard to cultivate a true collaborative relationship where, in the end, Denver students and families win. The outcome of the board’s vote on August 23 is another example of this great partnership.
Comments