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Judge rules in favor of DHA after private Denver community school served eviction notice

A Denver charter school and the Denver Housing Authority are at odds after the city announced it was moving to evict the urban art and private education center.

A judge has ruled in favor of the Denver Housing Authority after a private community school was served with an eviction notice last month.

The Tubman Hilliard Global Academy in Curtis Park has been housed inside King Trimble Center since 2012. The King Trimble Center, which is owned by The Housing Authority of the City and County of Denver, was developed as an affordable multi-purpose community-serving space.

THGA was paying $200 to use the space, school officials said in court, and it is now working to relocate to another place with affordable rent after Friday afternoon’s decision.

The school has filed a counterclaim based on money.

During the hearing, the judge said it was a difficult verdict to deliver since it was clear neither side meant harm in the dispute, which began when the DHA said it discovered the school was violating the terms of its lease.

"It is unfortunate that the situation with Tubman Hilliard Global Academy resulted in this outcome. However, we are pleased that the judge agreed with our position and that we can now move forward," DHA said in a news release. "We will engage with our residents, neighbors and partners to find new community-based non-profit organizations in need of affordable space to offer programs and services to the residents in and around Curtis Park.

"The goal of DHA is to ensure that the King Trimble Center continues to be an active, vibrant and affordable community...offering programs and services to low-income residents in the Curtis Park community. We will actively engage with our residents and others to find new community-based non-profit partners in need of affordable community space."

Initially, Tubman Hilliard Global Academy used the space to run "an urban art and private education center" for children from 5 years old to 12 years old. But according to a press release from DHA, it became aware that the school was "no longer in operation" in fall 2017.

DHA said "several community nonprofits in search of new space for their educational programs" told the agency "they had observed that the building had no daily activity and assumed it to be vacant," according to a DHA release.

Credit: KUSA

When DHA spoke to THGA, the school confirmed it wasn't operating, but said it hoped to reopen the following fall. With that, DHA said it "allowed THGA to continue working toward a fall 2018 opening while also becoming compliant with their lease."

But after that agreement, DHA said the King Trimble Center was still being used by unapproved outside groups that are not the lease.

"As a result, DHA served THGA a notice of lease termination on Nov. 26, 2018," the release read. 

Tunda Asega, THGA’s executive director, said they are treating this year as “Year 0” for planning and development, since their enrollment has changed. DHA is redeveloping a large part of the neighborhood, and a lot of families who went to THGA lived in those homes. Asega said since the closing of Platte Valley Homes nearby, his enrollment has been cut in half.

“You’ve dispersed and displaced the community, and now you want to disperse and displace the community-based school,” Asega said about DHA.

DHA told 9NEWS they still have no evidence that a school is, in fact, operating in that facility. But, Asega said every time DHA shows up, it’s after school hours.

“The Denver Housing Authority is not the Denver Educational Authority,” Asega said. "They simply don’t understand what they’re talking about, and the accusations are false.”

Since November, DHA said it has met with school officials to "arrive at a mutually agreeable solution to allow them to reestablish their educational programming in the King Trimble Center."

But according to a change.org petition in support of the school, "community members fear that wealthy land developers and city officials have been using a year-long campaign of escalating pressure to drive out the school."

DHA refuted this in its Thursday press release, claiming it wants the King Trimble Center to stay as an "an active, vibrant and affordable community serving facility operated by community non-profit organizations who serve disadvantaged and low-income residents and members of the community."

"I'm disheartened by another betrayal of our community and kids, by city officials," Asega said. "However, if our last lesson to students will be to stand up to injustice and abuse of power, then I feel we've done our job as educators."

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