Who is the CPAC?

The Community Planning and Advisory Committee (CPAC) is a group of community members, parents, educators and other DPS stakeholders. The committee serves a critical role in creating upcoming bond and mill levy packages that will go to the Board of Education for approval in the summer of 2020. Members were chosen by a selection committee with the intention of creating a group of stakeholders that is demographically and regionally representative of the Denver community. Members participate in five full CPAC meetings and five subcommittee meetings from January to June of 2020, at which time the committee will present their funding recommendations in the areas of maintenance, technology/safety, capacity/quality learning environments and mill levy programs.

Of the 76 DPS community members who make up CPAC:

• More than 50% are parents of DPS students
• Approximately 60% are people of color, representing our district’s ethnic and racial diversity
• Members proportionally represent each of the five board districts, with six members serving at-large

Guidelines for Public Comment at a CPAC Subcommittee Meeting:

*Until further notice, in-person CPAC meetings are cancelled and will be held as online meetings instead. If you would like to provide public comment, please submit a written statement of 500 words or less or a video (limit three minutes per individual or six minutes per group) to CPAC@dpsk12.org

• To sign up for public comment or to submit letters/videos, please email CPAC@dpsk12.org.
• There will be 20 available minutes at the beginning of each subcommittee meeting for public comment
• Individuals will have two minutes to speak; groups will have six minutes
• Letters and videos will also be accepted for the subcommittee to review
• Sign-up for public comment will close 24 hours prior to the start of each meeting
• Any sign-ups beyond the 20 available minutes will be moved to the next subcommittee meeting

CPAC meeting calendar and locations can be found below.

CPAC Subcommittees

Tiffany Choi

Originally from Centennial, Colorado, Choi is the president of the Denver Classroom Teachers Association.  She is a French teacher, most recently at East High School in Denver Public Schools.  After receiving a B.A. in French from Luther College, she spent a year as a Fulbright Teaching Assistant in a suburb of Paris.  She returned to the Denver area in 2010 to pursue a teaching license from the Urban Community Teacher Education program at CU Denver, and an also earned an M.A. in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Education from CU Denver.

Ismael Guerrero

Ismael Guerrero has served as Executive Director of the Housing Authority of the City and County of Denver (DHA) since June 2007.  Under Ismael’s leadership, DHA has undertaken an ambitious plan to transform public housing in Denver, creating vibrant, sustainable, mixed-income communities of choice.  In the decade since Ismael assumed leadership of DHA, the organization has been transformed from a local leader in affordable housing into a national leader in neighborhood transformation initiatives.  DHA has launched many innovative efforts that have taken DHA beyond housing to make meaningful impacts in the health and quality of life of Denver’s lowest income and most vulnerable residents.  Ismael has over 20 years of experience in community development and affordable housing. Ismael was born and raised in Chicago where he earned an engineering degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an MBA from the University of Chicago. Ismael contributes his time and experience to serve on boards for local and national organizations like  Mayor’s Housing Advisory Committee, Downtown Denver Partnership, Colorado Health Foundation, Neighborhood Development Collaborative, Youth on Record, The National Housing Trust, Council of Large Public Housing Authorities and Eco-Districts.

Brittany Morris Saunders

Brittany Morris Saunders serves as the head of the local affairs division at Sewald Hanfling Public Affairs. She specializes in the representation of businesses, developers, corporations and non-profits before local governments, including cities, counties and special districts. She was previously the Senior Vice President of Public Affairs and Economic Development for the Downtown Denver Partnership, Director of Economic Development for the City of Commerce City, and Senior Vice President of CRL Associates, Inc. With a passion for local government politics, Brittany enjoys working on projects and initiatives that have a direct impact on people’s lives, positively changing the course of Denver. Brittany is currently a Denver Public Library Friends Foundation Trustee and has previously served as a Denver Planning Board Member and on the Downtown Denver Expeditionary School Board. In her personal time, she loves spending time with her husband and two sons. Brittany is a proud DPS graduate. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from CU Boulder in 2002 and a Master of Arts in Political Science from CU Denver in 2007.

Morris Price, Jr.

Morris Price, Jr.  serves as the executive director of City Year Denver. In this role, Morris maintains strategic relationships with Denver Public Schools, City Year Denver’s Board, corporate and philanthropic partners and the wider Denver community. Prior to assuming the position, Morris was the district director for Colorado’s 1st congressional district and served as the national program officer for the Gill Foundation,  Prior to the Gill Foundation, Morris was one of the founding employees of the Daniels Fund and the Daniels Scholarship Program. Morris spent 15 years in higher education administration  serving as the director of undergraduate admission at the University of Denver. Morris is a proud alumnux of Denver Public Schools and graduate of Colorado State University (B.A.) and Regis University (M.N.M). Morris’s community leadership includes serving as past board chair of many local commissions and organizations, and he currently serves as a member of Rose Community Foundation’s Committee Board of Trustees, Colorado State University Foundation and a board member of the Colorado Nonprofit Association.

Full CPAC Meeting Locations: 

February 3: North High School library (rescheduled as webinar due to inclement weather)

March 23: DSST: Byers cafeteria – 150 S. Pearl St (rescheduled as 6:15-8 pm webinar due to COVID-19). Go to https://zoom.us/j/222758852, Meeting ID 222 758 852. Meeting materials can be found here. 

May 11:  Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81803721015?pwd=akxRQ29DcWJ3bXNGVWlteEp2eU5rQT09. Meeting ID 818 0372 1015. or join by phone at 253-215-8782. Contact robin_pulliam@dpsk12.org for meeting password.

May 26: Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88208047862?pwd=RkdTSERFdUZEOVhSVFhacFREQjM5UT09. Meeting ID: 882 0804 7862. Contact robin_pulliam@dpsk12.org for meeting password. Meeting materials can be found here.