Denver’s coalition of registered neighborhood organizations will introduce two resolutions at its Feb. 8 delegate meeting to oppose the sale or development of two school sites in south Denver.
Inter Neighborhood Cooperation, which seeks to speak with one voice about issues that concern the city’s neighborhoods, will vote on whether the sale of the shuttered Rosedale Elementary School is “contrary to the desires of the majority of the surrounding communities.”
In January, Chalkbeat reported that an organization had approached Denver Public Schools about its desire to turn the building into a private school. The resolution from INC argues that such a use “is not aligned with the Denver Public Schools’ mission of educating children.”
INC President George Mayl wrote to the board of education and superintendent on Jan. 9, arguing that the school is a “community asset” and its sale would erode public trust in the school district.
In late January, the school district ruled out another use for the property: affordable housing for teachers.
In its second resolution, INC opposes the sale of land on the campus of Place Bridge Academy for development. The property, the site of a former landfill, has worried neighbors that hazardous chemicals could be unearthed in the construction.
“Be it resolved that the INC supports holding the property in trust, indefinitely, as a public asset,” the proposed resolution reads.
