Two metro Denver school districts — Aurora Public Schools and Commerce City-based Adams 14 — canceled all classes Friday due to expected staff shortages. Aurora Public Schools and Pickens Technical College will be closed as the district anticipates “a higher than anticipated number of staff ab sences,” officials announced Thursday night. Adams 14 Superintendent Karla Loría announced on social media that the district expected “a high number of student and staff absences” on Friday, which will now be a “teacher and staff work day,” with no students in class. The announcements come 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. Related Articles Cherry Creek Schools superintendent resigns following report of ‘toxic culture’ University of Denver creates professorship in Holocaust and antisemitism studies Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai to headline CU’s Conference on World Affairs Denver metro school delays and closures for Jan. 26, 2026 Colorado school district drops appeal days before oral arguments in book-ban case 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.” For Aurora students, Friday will be a Professional Release Day that had originally been scheduled for Feb. 6 — a date that will now become a regular school day. High school athletics will continue as scheduled. Get more Colorado news by signing up for our Mile High Roundup email newsletter. ...read more read less