Hello, my name is Dani Morello and I am the Outreach & Engagement Manager for
STRIVE Prep schools in Far Northeast Denver, a role I have held for the last 18
months. I support our family engagement program STRIVE Together as well as
community outreach on behalf of and in partnership with our 3 schools in the FNE. I am
here today to talk about the concerns I have around the current restart process in the
Far Northeast.
Before I do, I just have to mention how excited I am that Montbello has 3 quality school
candidates in this process and would like to acknowledge our full respect for each
applicant. I also want to recognize the portfolio and public affairs teams, who’ve done
an admirable job overseeing the process under the circumstances.
The process of having the district serve as both an authorizer and restart competitor has
been challenging and confusing. And, we believe there are some significant process
concerns, beyond the scope of the portfolio team, that are related to this
authorizer/operator conflict and need the attention of this board.
First, we continue to meet current John Amesse families, on a daily basis, whom either
are unaware of the restart process or believe the restart decision has already been
made. From our vantage point, this is the result of a lack of clear messaging throughout
the school community as to the past level of performance and the reasons for the restart
decision- coming from the district in its authorizer capacity. It has also led to the
narrative within the school community that this process is a choice between applicants
looking to change the school and those looking to keep it the same- which we find
confusing and misrepresentative of all applicants. I've spoken with many families who
have raised concerns about the accuracy of the information they're receiving, several of
whom will be reaching out to you directly and one of whom was scheduled to be here
tonight , but unfortunately was unable to make it.
Second, we’ve seen differential access to families and staff among applicants
throughout the process. Lists of family contact information was available to the district
applicant long before the charter applicants; and some applicants have had the
opportunity to use existing John Amesse staff and infrastructure to communicate with
families directly, and some have not. In some cases the difference in timing and access
to families and staff have given the impression that we are are not interested in
community outreach and engagement.
Finally, we believe the operator/authorizer conflict is most clearly prevalent in the
decision to allow FACE to directly organize for the district applicant. While we believe

 this effort is well-intentioned, it has the consequence of parents experiencing messages
from district staff in an official capacity speaking about only one applicant, which has
exacerbated confusion among families.
STRIVE Prep has been in the Montbello community for more than 5 years now, and
both the organization and I know that Montbello students and families deserve better in
fact, they deserve the very best, just as all Denver students do. Adult politics should not
get in the way of them receiving just that. Families should have equal access to
accurate information as well as candidates and what they have to offer in order to be
able to make a fully informed decision on what they deem best for their students.
Integrity in this process moving forward is important for everyone involved, most
importantly the students. We remain committed to helping the district meet the Denver
2020 plan goals and in making sure that students in this community and across denver
have equitable access to high quality education.