News
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- Valentine’s Day Celebration — February 13, 2026 January 27, 2026
Posted January 29, 2026
Dear McKinley-Thatcher families,
I’d like to provide a budget update for the McKinley-Thatcher (McT) community. Our Collaborative School Committee (which is made up of staff and family members) has been working hard since December to determine our top budget priorities and to make difficult decisions about programming and staffing for the upcoming school year. Unfortunately, we are facing another difficult budget year, and we anticipate a $295,000 shortfall in our budget for the 2026-2027 school year. This means that we will have reductions in our staffing model due to these budget constraints.
These reductions in staff will need to occur across many programmatic areas within our school, including specials classes, special education teachers and paraprofessionals, instructional paraprofessionals, and mental health staff. That said, we have prioritized maintaining two teachers at each grade level, and the staffing for required positions such as an English as a Second Language teacher, office staff, and Early Childhood Education staff.
Earlier in January this year, McT announced an important program change that will affect our special education (SPED) services next school year. Beginning in August 2026, our current kindergarten to 5th grade Cross‑Categorical special education program will transition to a kindergarten to 2nd grade Multi‑Intensive Autism (MIA) program. This change reflects Denver Public Schools’ (DPS) commitment to better meet the needs of students with autism who require more specialized, intensive support.
I want to thank so many of you for your ongoing advocacy and support as we work to ensure the high-quality special education services at our school continue through these changes. A special thank-you goes out to those of you who have advocated to DPS for our school to maintain our current level of staffing for special education. Your voices matter and have made a difference.
This week, I met with senior leaders in the Special Education and Elementary School Division of DPS, and I had over an hour and a half of conversation with them to help them understand the complexity of the McT budget needs, and the impact that changes to our SPED program will have on our students. I shared specific examples of student needs and program considerations so decisionmakers could see the real-world effects of staffing changes, and to help them understand the complexity of running specialized programs in a small school like ours.
We are requesting budget assistance from DPS to support the following positions for next year:
I am hopeful we will receive all or most of the budget assistance we are requesting. Please continue to be patient as the process unfolds. I know waiting is stressful; I deeply appreciate your involvement and your trust in my leadership to advocate and partner with DPS to best serve our students. I am optimistic that these matters will be resolved in a way that ultimately supports the McT community. And, I know that we will be okay through any changes we have to face.
I will share updates with our families as soon as decisions are announced. The budget assistance decisions made by DPS senior leadership will determine the staffing model for next year and which positions may be reduced or added. Either way, our staffing will not change until August 2026.
If you have questions, concerns, or want to share anything with me, please reach out to me directly via email at Sonia_Geerdes@dpsk12.net.
Thank you again for your partnership and persistent advocacy for our school. I am so grateful to be working hand in hand with you to support all of our students.
Best,
Ms. G
Sonia Geerdes
Principal