After weeks of closed-door meetings about Superintendent Alex Marrero’s job performance, the Denver school board unanimously approved accepting his evaluation during Thursday’s meeting.

Marrero received 73.5 points (out of 100), narrowly missing the district’s 75% benchmark for meeting goals.

Some of the measures — for example, the percent of kinder through third graders reading at or above grade level and post graduation and global citizenship benchmarks — were weighted.

Because the superintendent’s performance is monitored throughout the year, Thursday’s evaluation served as a year-end summary.

In his self-evaluation, Marrero pushed back, saying the board overstepped its role by exerting more control in how he defines and executes their policy goals.

“In 2024–25, instead of providing this level of responsiveness to Board policy, I was asked to prioritize Reasonable Interpretations associated with each of the Board’s six Ends Statements,” Marrero wrote. “This approach and this degree of board influence to shape my Reasonable Interpretations are outside of the norms and principles of Policy Governance, which I believe runs counter to our shared commitment to clear and impactful governance.”

In its written evaluation, the board acknowledge the review period fell in a “transitional year” as it adjusted its framework.

In January, the board reduced the number of goals used to evaluate Marrero — cutting them from more than 200 metrics to roughly two dozen. While he now has fewer benchmarks to hit, the expectations are more ambitious.

For example, the board increased by 1 percentage point Marrero’s literacy goal from 40% to 42% for students in grades third through eighth. The district’s 2022 strategic plan had called for 49% of third- through eighth-graders to meet or exceed expectations on the state literacy test by the next academic year.

Among Marrero’s strengths highlighted in the review:

• Systemwide academic with Denver Public Schools hitting “historic CMAS math and science proficiency levels” with the district receiving a “Green rating” on the Colorado District Performance Framework, a historic high.
• Steady improvement in growth indicators.
• Increases in postsecondary readiness with industry certifications up and more students receiving the “Seal of Biliteracy.”
• Maintaining a diverse workforce.
• The community hubs — described as a “national model” for providing wraparound supports — assisted nearly 4,500 families.

Areas of growth:

• Despite academic gains, persistent achievement gaps remain.
• Black and Latino graduation rates fell short of targets.
• The district’s “Culture Vitality Index” dropped below goal, “signaling decreased perceptions of belonging and trust among employees.”
• While school safety management platforms CrisisGo and Raptor were rolled out to every school to handle emergency communication, visitor screening and threat response, they are not being used consistently and as a result not all campuses benefited equally.
• The closure of seven schools and three reorganizations last year exposed weaknesses in human resources, communications, and transportation, while school-level supports lagged behind the pace of change.

Marrero’s evaluation also noted his “steadfast leadership in protecting the constitutional and civil rights of Denver students and families.”

It was a sentiment echoed by board members who largely praised his performance.

“Your passion truly is for Denver Public Schools and it really shines through in the evaluation,” Board President Carrie Olson said.

Director Kimberlee Sia asked Marrero the only question, which focused on not hitting academic goals, despite efforts to do so — such as increasing the use of data to inform decision making.

Marrero attributed it to staff’s preoccupation with other pressing issues such as putting together the nearly $1 billion bond initiative.

“It’s the same folks doing the hard work everywhere else,” Marrero said.

Marrero added, “It takes a toll on all of us.”

No one spoke about Marrero’s evaluation, which was not released until later, during public comment Thursday.

This was in stark contrast in May when the public turned out to speak against an early extension to his contract. Community leaders — even those supportive of Marrero — expressed concerns about Latino students lagging academically behind their White counterparts.

Marrero’s evaluation and early contract extension, which included language that shields him from being removed from his post without broad support, have been divisive issues in the community.

Before being tapped in 2021 to lead Colorado’s largest school district, Marrero was interim superintendent at City School District of New Rochelle in New York, which has fewer than 10,000 students.

Marrero’s time in Denver has been marked by controversy. This includes a court-ruled illegal executive session, school closures, his handling of student safety and the nearly $100,000 office remodel with a view of downtown.