With a union-backed voting majority on the Denver Public Schools Board of Education, district officials announced this week they have dismantled the Beacon Innovation Management Organization, signaling a broader shift away from autonomous school governance.

The move effectively terminated Executive Principal Alex Magaña’s role with the district.

Joseph Amundsen, executive director of the district’s School Transformation, on Monday sent a letter notifying parents about the decision.

As part of the change, the executive principal role that supports both Beacon schools will end after this school year.

“Beginning next year, the principals at Grant Beacon and Kepner Beacon will report to the district’s Middle School Network Director,” Amundsen wrote. “This shift will help us provide consistent services, strengthen daily supports, and offer long term stability for students, staff, and families.”

Magaña declined comment.

It’s unclear when the decision was made. Bill Good, a district spokesperson, declined to say.

“This shift is about long-term alignment and stability, not reducing school level autonomy,” Good said in an email to The Denver Gazette.

Good added: “The shift here is that Beacon schools will now receive their primary support through the Middle School Network rather than an IMO Executive Director.”

Magaña’s last day will be July 15, 2026.

“Mr. Magaña is a strong school leader,” Good said. “This transition reflects the district’s effort to align supports under a consistent middle school network structure, not his performance.”

Good declined to say if Magaña will be offered a reassignment within DPS.

“DPS does not publicly discuss individual employment arrangements or potential future roles,” Good said.

During his unsuccessful run for the at-large seat last month, Magaña told The Denver Gazette he expected to continue leading the Beacon schools if he wasn’t elected.

District officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

In 2023, Superintendent Alex Marrero recommended revoking the innovation status of the Beacon Network Schools Innovation Zone after Magaña publicly supported a bill – now a law – that provided an appeal process

The board supported Marrero’s recommendation in a split vote, citing low test scores coming out of the pandemic, when officials shut down classrooms and pivoted to remote learning. Beacon appealed the decision under the new law.

The district faced a backlash for the move.

The board later reviewed its decision, as required by the new law, with Marrero and Magaña reaching a compromise. Magaña would report to the superintendent’s office.

“The only thing that will be different now is that there won’t be a governing board,” Magaña said then.

Marrero’s recommendation marked a reversal from when the district asked Magaña, then Grant Beacon Principal, in 2016 to replicate his program at Kepner Middle School.

Magaña has been serving as executive principal of both schools and executive director of the Beacon Network.

Passed by the state legislature in 2008, the Innovation Schools Act creates a way for schools and districts to implement innovative practices by providing flexibility to meet student needs. Innovation schools, for example, may obtain waivers from state and local policies, as well as collective bargaining agreements in the furtherance of this goal.

DPS has about 50 innovation schools, which includes those run and managed by the district and those with an alternative governance, like the Beacon schools. In the weeks to come, DPS officials will be reviewing the plans for nearly all the innovation schools in the district.

The board was informed — it’s unclear when — about the change, Good said.