denver may build new school to replace school it closed a decade ago

Voters in Denver may be presented with a bond question in November asking for their approval of either the new construction or renovation of an existing school building in the city’s Montbello neighborhood. 

The former Montbello High School in northeast Denver was officially discontinued in 2010, with a final class graduating in 2014, and subsequently replaced with ten smaller school facilities.

The school had served a school body that was more than 90 percent black and Latino.

Now, after a series of meetings with area parents, Denver school officials say they are in favor of returning to a single comprehensive school facility.
 
In going back to the single large high school concept, the Denver Public Schools district would either end up renovating the existing building that once housed Montbello High at 5000 Crown Boulevard, or building an entirely new structure altogether.

What happens with the Montbello school will depend on what happens with a $810 million proposed bond crafted by members of the Denver Public Schools’ community planning and advisory committee.

That committee has spent months looking at the facility needs of the larger city school district, before deciding on a series of construction and upgrading projects most in need of funding.

A final decision on whether or not the bond will actually be put on the November ballot is expected to be made next month by the Denver Public Schools school board.
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The original Montbello school, with an eventual enrollment of more than 1,500 students, was opened in the fall of 1980.

By Garry Boulard

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