'It's Egregious': SchoolChoice Extended For STEAM School After DPS Lists Wrong Address

DENVER (CBS4) – Denver Public Schools announced the creation of a new school modeled after Historically Black Colleges and Universities in 2020. The Robert F. Smith STEAM Academy, located in Denver's Montebello neighborhood, began enrolling rising 8th graders in January.

DPS is now apologizing after listing an incorrect address, 13 miles away from STEAM's location, on the SchoolChoice application.

"All of the parents in the far northeast, who are close to the school, did not have the opportunity to choose us or think that we were even close to them," said Brandon Pryor, co-founder of Robert F. Smith STEAM Academy. "We designed this school because there was no equity for Black students in this district."

Pryor said years of hard work went into the creation of Robert F. Smith STEAM Academy. His advocacy group, Warriors for High Quality Schools, champions quality education for Denver students in underserved communities.

In a statement to CBS4, DPS said it listed the incorrect addresses for Robert F. Smith STEAM Academy and French American School of Denver on the SchoolChoice Round 1 application. DPS says the addresses were listed correctly in SchoolFinder and in the School Enrollment Guide, but the addresses were incorrect on the applications.

At the time of the schools' approval, DPS did not have their addresses. DPS entered the address for its administration building - 1860 Lincoln Street – in its place.

DPS did not update the new addresses on its applications.

"I would like to know like why these things are happening when the SchoolChoice office has a $2.3 million annual budget with over 36 employees. They can't get our address right?" said Pryor. "Here we are, three community members, who designed the whole school in our spare time. We have families. We have jobs. It's egregious to me."

STEAM's agreement with DPS is to enroll 125 rising 8th graders. As of Tuesday night, 48 students have selected STEAM as their #1 choice. A total of 42 students selected STEAM as their #2 choice. Ten students selected STEAM as their #3 choice.

To address this mistake, DPS said it contacted the families of all rising 8th graders in northeast Denver who participated in SchoolChoice to advise them of the correct address and offer the ability to modify their choices. DPS also posted the correct address prominently on the DPS main website.

"We will be opening in the fall, no matter what our enrollment is, I want people to know that and be clear on that," said Pryor. "We were actually in the middle of the pack for enrollment out here in the far northeast for incoming ninth graders. Even though the DPS made a huge mistake and egregious mistake in my opinion.

Jessie Matthews, a straight A student at MLK Early College, selected Robert F. Smith STEAM Academy for SchoolChoice. His mother, Carmen, said it was his first and only choice.

"He said 'Mom, I want to go to this school.' Denver Public Schools has so many other options for those who want to pursue a different look at a public school, but this is different. We know it has what every other school strives to be plus one. He'll be learning about our history. We knew that we had to take the opportunity," said Carmen Matthews.

On the final day of SchoolChoice, Carmen received the call from Denver Public Schools, telling her what she already knew – the school is in Montbello.

"They told me, 'The address is listed incorrectly. We want to give everyone the opportunity to choose another school. You didn't choose a second school. The address is listed at the downtown office.'," said Carmen. "I said, 'I don't want to change schools."

Colorado allocates state funding for K-12 schools based on projected enrollment. Pryor planned for 125. He is still calling on DPS to fund Robert F. Smith STEAM Academy for 125 students.

"Whatever comes our way, we know that God is in the middle of our fight. He's blessed us with this vision. We are firm believers in that and we're firm believers in what God has in store for our community. No matter what obstacles we come up against, even this one," said Pryor.

DPS says they are "working closely with the Robert F. Smith STEAM Academy school leaders and founding team to provide support in achieving sustainable enrollment for opening in the Fall of 2021."

The extended opportunity for 9th graders to choose Robert F. Smith STEAM Academy as their first choice for the 2021-2022 school year has been extended to Monday, March 1st. DPS families should call 720-423-3493 by 4 p.m. to update their application.