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After recent tension between the Denver school board and superintendent, the board unanimously approved a performance review Monday night in which Superintendent Alex Marrero earned 88.4 points out of a possible 100, a higher score than last year.
After meeting in a closed-door executive session for three hours, board members struck a positive tone when they emerged. The vote to approve Marrero’s evaluation was unanimous, although board member John Youngquist was absent.
“It’s been a wonderful collaborative experience, and the conversation we’ve had leading up to here has just been really telling how we can move forward together as a board with our superintendent,” said board member Amy Klein Molk.
Vice President Monica Hunter, who recently told an investigator the she “tried to fire” Marrero over the summer, praised him for growing Denver Public Schools’ community hubs, which provide food, clothing, adult English classes, and other services to DPS families. But she also noted the wide test score gaps between white students and students of color.
Denver has the largest test score gaps by race in the state. For example, about 27% of DPS Black students and 24% of Latino students met or exceeded expectations on the state literacy test last spring, compared with 76% of white students — a 50-percentage point gap.
Board member Kimberlee Sia said the district needs to make faster academic progress.
“We know we’ve been making incremental progress,” Sia said to Marrero, “and I appreciate you hearing and being willing to have the conversation about, ‘How do we get there faster?’”
Marrero’s 20-page evaluation is split into two sections: strengths and areas for growth.
Among the strengths, the board noted:
- 69% of kindergarten through third grade students scored at grade level or above on early literacy tests, surpassing Marrero’s goal of 68%.
- 35% of third through eighth grade students met or exceeded expectations on state math tests last spring, meeting Marrero’s goal of 35%.
- DPS earned a high “green” rating, based partly on state test scores, from the Colorado Department of Education for the second year in a row.
- 82% of DPS students graduated within four years of starting high school, an all-time high that surpassed Marrero’s goal of 81%.
- DPS launched a new education program founded by rapper Andre “Dr. Dre” Young and record executive Jimmy Iovine and focused on entrepreneurship, technology, and design at two high schools: Manual High and Denver School of the Arts.
- The number of citations issued to students by school police officers fell from 72 to 55, outperforming Marrero’s goal of 65.
- 400 students earned a Seal of Climate Literacy, a diploma endorsement showing they gained skills related to the environment, surpassing Marrero’s goal of 196.
Among the areas for growth:
- The state literacy test scores of Latino students, Black students, and students from low-income families fell short of Marrero’s goals, demonstrating a need to improve reading and writing instruction and offer “rigorous, evidence-based interventions.” For example, 24% of students who qualify for subsidized meals, a proxy for poverty, met or exceeded expectations on state literacy tests, short of Marrero’s goal of 26%.
- Black students, Latino students, and students with disabilities made lower-than-expected academic growth on state math and literacy tests, meaning they made less progress from year to year than Marrero anticipated. For example, Black and Latino students earned median growth percentile scores of 48 in math, short of Marrero’s goal of 55.
- 554 students graduated in the spring having earned a work-based industry certification, which fell short of Marrero’s goal of 578.
- The board said “staff and employee culture” needs improvement, though it didn’t give specifics, and recommended that Marrero collect staff feedback and use survey data “to inform decisions, strengthen workplace practices, and address areas of concern.”
- The board also recommended that Marrero ensure “the district’s discipline matrix is applied consistently and equitably across all schools to promote fairness, accountability, and inclusive learning environments.” The discipline matrix dictates the consequences students receive for certain behaviors and infractions.
Marrero’s evaluation comes at a tumultuous time for the board, which has been plagued by infighting, the recent resignation of member DJ Torres, and a vote to censure Hunter following an inconclusive investigation into whether she used antisemitic language. The board is in the midst of appointing Torres’ replacement.
It also comes after Marrero applied for a superintendent position in Florida that he didn’t get. He was also reportedly a finalist for the top schools job in Chicago, though Marrero said at the time that he was committed to Denver. Some board members have questioned that commitment.
Relations between Marrero and the board have been tense. In June, Marrero sent a four-page email outlining his concerns with the board, including that members were overstepping their authority and getting too involved in administrative matters. He wrote that he and his staff were caught in the crosshairs of disputes among board members.
Last year, Marrero earned 73.5 points out of 100 on his evaluation. In 2023 and 2024, he got a bonus based on his performance. But the board got rid of that provision in his contract in 2025.
Melanie Asmar is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Colorado. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org.