We’re proud to share our first RootED Annual Report. In fiscal year 2019-2020, our grantees served nearly 24,000 Denver Public School students across 55 schools. These schools and nonprofit organizations championed community-driven change by activating and equipping Denver families to advocate for schools that meet their needs; and they elevated school quality and racial equity in autonomous school leadership, academics, and operations.
Our mission at RootED is to invest in community-driven organizations, schools and strategies that advance racial equity in education—to ensure that all Denver Public Schools students receive a high-quality education that recognizes and values individual and community strengths and cultural difference, enabling students to attain academic achievement, personal growth, and college and career success.
We’re grateful to our partners, funders, staff and board and remain optimistic and committed as ever to an equitable, accountable, responsive Denver Public Schools system where racism is no longer a barrier to excellent student outcomes.
Research has shown that students who share the same background as educators, receive more effective role modeling, higher expectations for learning and their future, and have fewer cultural differences. The community’s been calling for an increase the number of effective, diverse and representative leaders across public schools in Denver.
Following an extensive nationwide search, the KIPP Colorado Board of Directors selected Tomi Amos as its new KIPP Colorado CEO. Previously, Tomi served as Executive Director for the Northeast Denver Innovation Zone (NDIZ).
Tomi’s appointment is historic for Denver: she is the first leader of color of a charter network here, and her ascendance is an inspiration to so many who’ve struggled for generations to improve equitable outcomes in our public schools. She said, “I have prided myself on working in communities with high populations of English Language Learners, and making sure their identities are affirmed. It’s not acceptable to me to pursue a path where our kids are not celebrating their culture and their heritage and their language in the same way they can learn a new language.” Tomi was featured on 9News, New CEO for KIPP Colorado Schools makes sure students have equal access to virtual learning.
Communities of color remain disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 and the economic downturn.
Thanks to a community-specific grant from RootED and savings from hosting its annual staff conference remotely, DSST Public Schools were able to support a handful of local businesses owned by people of color.
More than 800 DSST Public Schools teachers and staff received $40 each in gift cards to businesses owned by people of color. See story on 9News: DSST Public Schools Gives Back to the Community
Denver families learned this spring that DPS would face dramatic budget cuts due to the plunge in sales tax, income tax and other revenue streams brought on by the COVID 19 pandemic. Community leaders raised concerns the impact of the pandemic and looming cuts would disproportionately affect students of color, and those whose families earn low incomes.
RootED co-sponsored a series of webinars on school district budget decision making. The discussions covered how school board members could navigate the development of effective school district budgets. In this video, Denver community members shared insights on what they wanted school leaders to keep top of mind as they developed the 2020-2021 budget.
A coalition of education advocate organizations held a press conference June 28 to discuss strategies the Denver Public Schools (DPS) Board of Education should consider before making cuts to the budget. The school district was facing a budget shortfall of $65 million. A critical message the advocates delivered is that the adopted budget should not exacerbate long-standing inequities in the system, or use stop-gap measures that will ultimately hurt students in the long-term. It must prioritize the educational outcomes for students of color, students with special needs and those who come from low income households.
The message was live streamed on 9News and covered on CBS4 and Fox31.