In a split vote Thursday, the Denver Public Schools Board of Education voted 4-3 to give Superintendent Alex Marrero a raise two years before his existing contract was to end.

In explaining the vote, Board President Xóchitl Gaytán said that while Marrero helps the largest school district in Colorado, his pay was the 12th highest.

The raise will bring Marrero’s salary to $305,000. His base pay was at $276,000.

The three board members who voted “no” were Vice President Auon’tai Anderson, Secretary Michelle Quattlebaum and Treasurer Scott Esserman.

Anderson and Quattlebaum shared concerns with the process and the board’s involvement in the contract.

Quattlebaum said it was “difficult to vote” on a matter she was not “authentically or transparently involved in.”

“While I agree that conversation needs to be had regarding the matter before us, I cannot agree with the process that was used,” Quattlebaum said. “As a board we should have engaged in robust discourse to, at the very least, agree upon the process by which we would use to handle the matter before us. This was not done.”

The process involved the board’s general council working with Marrero’s attorney to craft an agreement acceptable on both sides, according to DPS Attorney Aaron Thompson. The contract was presented to the board, with a request for input, and adjustments were made based on email comments.

The board then voted on the final contract Thursday.

Anderson said the proposal is coming at the wrong time and should be discussed at the evaluation period.

“I am an unwavering believer in the importance of a fair wage … However, I firmly believe that the timing of this proposal is not right given the multiple pressing issues that we are currently grappling with,” Anderson said. “Our students and staff face significant challenges related to safety, mental health and academic success. As a board, our undivided attention should be dedicated to resolving these immediate problems.”

After joining DPS in July 2021, the board voted just five months later to amend and extend Marrero’s two-year contract to a four-year term with options for a one-year extension.

That contact was set to expire on June 30, 2025.

At the time, the Latino Education Coalition opposed extending Marrero’s contract, saying he had not served long enough to a make an informed decision about his future.

On Tuesday, the Aurora Public Schools board of education unanimously approved the contract for its new superintendent during its board meeting. Michael Giles’ base salary will be $285,000. He begins in his new role July 1.

Before coming to Denver, Marrero served as assistant superintendent for the City School District of New Rochelle, which is outside New York City and serves roughly 11,000 students.

The new contract was negotiated as Marrero has weathered public criticism for perceived missteps and growing calls for his resignation.

Marrero has been in the spotlight for months.

First it was for his school closure plan — which the board initially rejected last fall — amid declining student enrollments. And then it was his response to two shootings at East High School.

Luis Garcia was shot in the student parking lot Feb. 13 and later died. Garcia’s parents have since filed a wrongful death claim against DPS. And then on March 22, two deans were shot while conducting a pat down of a student.

The district did not release any details about Marrero’s contract before Thursday’s board meeting as it was still being finalized Wednesday.

Public criticism was swift Thursday.

Resign DPS Board — formed by a group of parents in the wake of the East High School shooting in March that saw two deans wounded — was critical of the new contract.

Marrero, the Resign DPS Board pointed out, has yet to receive a formal evaluation.

“In a year filled with in-fighting amongst the Board, closing of schools, declining enrollment and a wave of crippling violence that rests solely at the feet of the DPS Board and Superintendent Marrero, the Board has inexplicably decided that now is the appropriate time to extend Marrero’s contract, offer him more money, and further catapult the district into financial crisis,” according to an excerpt from the statement.

Resign DPS Board is a nonprofit organization that is circulating a petition demanding the board’s resignation.

Denver Gazette reporter Jessica Gibbs contributed to this story.