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October 22, 2020
DENVER, COLORADO
A publication of
VOLUME 93 | ISSUE 50
Middle, high schools to remain online DPS had planned to reopen buildings for older students in October BY MELANIE ASMAR CHALKBEAT.ORG
tions have been closed since March 16. But library patrons have not been completely cut off from books and other materials. The library’s three bookmobiles began rolling again in April and have been dropping off free books for kids at recreation centers and schools and filling book orders placed by older adults at sites such as assisted living centers. Book drops reopened June 15. In July, librarians began curbside distributions of materials that patrons had placed on hold. Later in July, a laptop loan service was launched outside the Central location on 13th and Broadway. Now, the laptop service is available at 12 libraries. Access to free Wi-Fi is available outside library locations.
Denver middle and high schools will continue with virtual learning into November, according to an internal district communication obtained by Chalkbeat. The school district had planned to reopen school buildings to middle and high school students on Oct. 21. COVID-19 cases have been rising in Denver. On Oct. 12, as Denver Mayor Michael Hancock sounded the alarm, Superintendent Susana Cordova said the district would consult with public health officials and take a second look at plans to bring older students back to the classroom. At a school board meeting later that evening, Dr. Bill Burman, the director of Denver Public Health reiterated that he believes it’s relatively safe to bring students back to school and that the greatest risk is that of frequent learning disruptions due to quarantine. But he also noted that COVID cases had risen among school-age children in Denver in recent weeks. Public health officials have attributed a spike in cases citywide to outbreaks that originated on college campuses and have now spread to the community. Denver elementary schools will reopen on schedule, the district communication says. The district has been gradually bringing back elementary students in recent weeks, with the goal of having all students who
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Barbara Methvin made off with two books recently after visiting one of the Denver Public Library’s traveling bookmobiles parked at Clermont Park in University Hills. KEVIN J. BEATY/DENVERITE
COVID numbers delay library reopenings Denver system had been ready to announce imminent timetable BY DONNA BRYSON DENVERITE.COM
Seven months after closing to the public, the Denver Public Library was ready to announce the imminent reopening of several branches. But “the COVID numbers have kind of put a halt to our plans,” library spokeswoman Olivia Gallegos said Oct. 13. A day earlier, word came that Denver’s seven-day coronavirus case average is 127.3, higher than the peak of 126.3 cases on April 29, back when
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the pandemic was new. And COVID-19 hospitalization rates in Denver have increased since Oct. 3 by more than a third to what Mayor Michael Hancock calls a “concerning” sevenday average of 174. Gallegos said she had been hoping to announce that seven or eight branches would open within two weeks. Instead, all she could say with certainty on Oct. 13 is that no branches would be reopening over the next two weeks and no target date for reopening had been set. She said library staff would continue to track data and consult with health officials before deciding on a reopening calendar. “It’s really dependent on the direction the numbers are going,” she said. Denver’s 26 public library loca-
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