Denver Public Schools closing more than half its schools Thursday as teachers protest funding

Denver Public Schools, like other districts, is facing a significant number of teacher absences on Thursday, the day the state's teachers union is organizing a rally to protest the state of education funding in Colorado. On Tuesday the district announced that only 85 of its 207 schools will be open Thursday, 122 schools will be closed.

DPS Superintendent Alex Marrero released an operational plan with a list of schools that will remain open, saying that "While we support fully funded education, we wish their action didn't have a direct impact on students' education."  DPS reports that more than 1,000 teachers have called out for Thursday.

"Our goal is to do everything that we can do to keep our schools open so that our students do not lose a day of important instruction due to this event. In addition to the educational instruction that students will be missing out on, many of our students count on their schools for social-emotional support, mental health resources, and the only two meals that they will have to eat that day," said Marrero. DPS is using guest teachers and central office employees to help staff the open schools.

Embedded below is the list of DPS schools that will be open on Thursday March 20th.

All schools in DPS are open Friday March 21. 

Boulder Valley School District and Adams 12 schools opted to cancel classes at all schools on Thursday, saying the hundreds of expected teacher absences for the "No More Cuts" rally made it impossible for them to operate safely.