Aurora Public Schools and Pickens Technical College will be closed Friday as the school district anticipates “a higher than anticipated number of staff absences,” officials announced Thursday night.
The announcement comes ahead of Friday’s nationwide ICE Out protests and general strike following the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis and immigration crackdown tactics in Minnesota. More than dozen Denver-area restaurants will be closed Friday, while some will donate a percentage of their profits to local immigrant rights organizations.
“We always seek to keep schools open to provide critical learning, social-emotional support, mental health resources and healthy meals for our students,” Aurora Public School officials said in a statement. “However, after closely monitoring the number of staff absences across the district for tomorrow, we have determined that APS will not have enough staffing capacity to safely operate schools.”
Friday will be a Professional Release Day that was originally scheduled for Feb. 6, changing that date into a regular school day. High school athletics will continue as scheduled.
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