Jeffco school district to not close neighborhood schools - #lakewoodnews

Is it closing time?

That was the question of the day as Jefferson County Board of Education members directed staff remove the school closures from the Facilities Master Plan, Tuesday night.

"I'm apprehensive at this point about closing any schools without knowing we've exhausted every option about building communities up, adding programs in if that's what it takes," said Ali Lasell, board member, "Our communities love our small schools."

Over five hours the board reviewed each articulation area in the district, examining the recommended changes -- creation of new elementary schools, renovations of schools with deferred maintenance and the reconfiguration of K-6 elementary schools into a 6-8th-grade middle school model. That reconfiguration was met with unanimous support and will be instated over the next two years, should the plan be approved at Thursday's school board meeting.

In several areas around the district, schools with a decreasing or stable of enrollment of 275 or under were initially recommended for closure by district staff. Each of those schools were given a reprieve -- but as many around the board table said, talk of closures could return in the near future, due to limited funding and an unpredictable housing market.

"Honestly, if we don't get any relief, next year we're going to be asking what can we do now," said Jeffco Superintendent Dan McMinimee.

"I'm very concerned about leaving facilities empty and very concerned about closing facilities of any sort in the next few years because we don't know what growth will look like in the area," said board member Brad Rupert.

The board encouraged staff to increase programming and community outreach to help build up communities around these small neighborhood schools. Several board members, like Amanda Stevens agreed, citing these are tough decisions, asking if other options could be evaluated to tackle the issue.

"This for me is where we have to decide, dollars, boundary lines, or do we pull the ripcord? These schools deserve to know their path forward," Stevens said about all schools where closures are possible.

Along with the facility decisions, the board discussed a property tax increase to fund around $40.2 million for compensation for all staff; increased support for mental health support at schools; increased full time employees for the district's crisis prevention and intervention services and dispatch supplies; increases in school-level budgets by $200 per pupil; increases in school software compliance and technology sustainability as well as ongoing costs for data privacy management; and charter school compensation for recruiting and retaining employees, student services, facilities and curriculum needs.

Stevens expressed a lack of confidence in state education funding to help solve the district's ongoing financial needs.

"If the state passes some solutions, those solutions may not be large enough to weather future cuts," she said.

The district has also identified $21 Million in other needs, listed here: http://www.boarddocs.com/co/jeffco/Board.nsf/files/AAR2CW78110B/$file/Mill%20Levy%20Prioritization%20Sheet_Cabinet.pdf

The board is expected to make their final decision around placing a property tax Mill Levy on the next general election ballot in late August.

The board will continue the conversation around facilities, a bond issue to fund those facilities and this mill levy override at 5:30 p.m., Thursday night, at the Jeffco Education Center, 1829 Denver West Drive.

 

from Lakewood Sentinel - Latest Stories http://lakewoodsentinel.comhttp://arvadapress.com/stories/Jeffco-school-district-to-not-close-neighborhood-schools,218661?branding=15