DPS enrollment is down 1,780 students this fall — about 300 more than the district had projected. At a school board meeting last week, Marrero said the numbers show there is room to shift boundaries, but he does not want students to face repeated school changes if closures later require another round of adjustments.

“If there are school closures in the future, then school boundary or enrollment zone changes would likely be required as part of a closure,” Marrero wrote in a letter to families. He said those changes would happen after the 2027-28 school year.

The board adopted a policy last year requiring DPS to analyze and adjust boundaries every five years, beginning this school year. The policy was intended to help balance enrollment and account for demographic and housing changes, while avoiding boundaries that worsen socioeconomic segregation.

The district collected community feedback through six meetings this fall, following two meetings last spring, and more than 3,000 survey responses. Views were divided. Some families at schools with declining enrollment said boundary changes could help bring in students; other parents worried changes could disrupt established school communities or affect home values.

DPS has not conducted a systematic boundary review since a court-ordered busing system to integrate Denver schools ended in 1995. Enrollment zones cover several schools and guarantee students living within a zone a place at one of those schools.

The board is considering combining its boundary policy with its school-closure policy. The proposed version would continue to require a boundary analysis every five years but call for changes only when reasonably warranted. Board member Marlene De La Rosa has suggested moving the review cycle to 10 years to align with the U.S. Census and reduce the chance that a student would experience multiple boundary changes. The board could vote on the combined policy by the end of October.