Students Protest SW Denver Middle School Plan

Students from Abraham Lincoln High School protested a meeting of the Denver Public School Thursday night, objecting to plans to add a middle school to their building.

Students say overcrowding at has forced them to eat lunch on the floor and bathrooms have been used for classes. The district denies those claims.

An advocacy group, Padres y Jovenes Unidos, surveyed the students and helped organize the protest.

"If Denver Public Schools cannot successfully administrate with the students that they have right now, what makes them think they can put 300 more students with a middle school?" said Shawna Foster, an organizer with Padres y Jovenes Unidos.

DPS Superintendent Tom Boasberg said the plan makes sense with southwest Denver’s high demand for quality middle schools.

"There is plenty of room at Lincoln given the drop in enrollment and by all measures there is capacity at Lincoln to offer the community these middle school opportunities," Boasberg said.

Thursday night, the board approved two new middle schools for southwest Denver. But it won’t decide whether to add one of them to Lincoln until next month’s meeting.