Denver Public Schools parents scrutinize board moves on superintendent's contract
Denver School Board members are considering extending the contract of Superintendent Alex Marrero but community members have begun scrutinizing how the board handles the contract.
His contract expires in 15 months, and the makeup of the DPS board will change this year, as four of the board's seven seats are up for grabs in November.
Marrero leads Colorado's largest school district and is one of the highest paid superintendents in the state.
With just over a year left on his contract, the DPS Board must decide if they'll offer a contract extension, and if so, whether it would happen before the board changes in November.
During the March 20 School Board meeting, board members debated whether the public should have the chance to comment on the process.
"Being able to talk to community as we're coming up to making those types of decisions to include some public comment," Board Member Kimberly Sia said.
Board Member Scott Esserman responded, "there are many things that we involve community on in terms of community decisions. What we do with the superintendent's contract is not a community decision; it's a board decision."
The board moved the conversation to a closed-door meeting, frustrating some parents.
"I can only kind of surmise that they're looking to extend his contract before an election, before a performance evaluation," parent Lisa Randall said.
Marrero's next evaluation is due in October.
"I don't understand. Why would they say that it's only something that the board needs to talk about and make the decision without the community knowing exactly what's going on?" asked another parent, Yaeel Duarte.
Esserman would not say whether the board is looking to extend Marrero's contract.
"I can't say whether or not we're contemplating that whatsoever," Esserman said.
He defended his view that the board must act without delay in its most important role of supervising the superintendent.
"If negotiations make sense, they make sense, right? I don't think that we should, as a board, determine our actions based on whether or not there's an election upcoming or not. I think that we have to make the best decisions at the time when we're serving," added Esserman.
The DPS superintendent is paid more than $346,000 annually, plus a performance bonus.
"It's our tax money, and we need to make sure that it's spent well," added Duarte.
The school board has until two months after the election -- Jan. 1, 2026 -- to inform Marrero about its plans for his future.
The school board has scheduled another "executive session" closed-door meeting on superintendent Marrero's contract for Wednesday evening.
A number of community members will weigh in on the contract during public comment.
