FOR SALE – JEFFCO SCHOOLS

(Recently Remodeled and Upgraded at Taxpayer Expense)

Guest Post by Chuck Bedard

I happened to be “in the neighborhood” of the palatial palace which is home to the Jefferson County Schools Administration Building – more on that later – or jump to the end to read what Jeffco should do.  I decided to poke my head into the School Board’s Study Session.  The portion most intriguing to me dealt with the disposition of the first 5 of the now-closed elementary schools.

It appeared that the two District employees giving the presentation to the School Board had both drawn the “short straw.”  Neither seemed to be particularly prepared to answer the Board’s questions beyond the specific slides provided in the presentation. 

The slide presentation followed a similar format for each of the five schools.  The first school discussed was Glennon Heights Elementary.  I have some familiarity with Glennon Heights – at least I know where it is located.  The presenters acted like they had no real idea where the school was.  But, since it was the first school on the list I’ll continue to use it as the example .

For example, the lead presenter noted that students who had attended Glennon Heights and were now at Belmar Elementary had access to public, RTD transportation to Belmar.  True, RTD runs along Alameda with stops near Quail (Glennon Heights is about a half mile from Alameda) and Garrison (Belmar Elementary is a little over three/quarters of a mile from the Alameda bus stop).  The K-5 grade students taking the RTD transportation would have quite the hike – probably doable for the fifth-grade student.  I’m wondering if the Jeffco Staff would feel comfortable putting their kindergarten students on the RTD bus and having them walk 3/4 of a mile down the busy Garrison Street.  However, the presenter made sure that the Board knew that public transportation was available to each school.  Why is the availability of RTD even a factor for consideration in the closure/sale of elementary schools?

The presenter also suggested that Jeffco Schools will never have any real increase in student population – at least in the neighborhoods serviced by the five schools.  While the student population may not be at peak levels now, that isn’t to say the numbers will not be increasing in the very near future.  Many of the Jeffco neighborhoods are starting to have new, young families move in – replacing the “old, white, rich people” a designator so eloquently used by the City of Lakewood.  

In the Glennon Heights neighborhood, 29 new rental homes are close to being on the market and given the average number of children per household of 1.93, nearly 56 children will be looking for a school.  However, the Jeffco staff seems confident that the number of new students in these areas will be small and temporary structures at some of the schools will be more than adequate.  BUT, keep this in mind:  once those schools are permanently eliminated, there’s no going back.  The schools will be gone and there is precious little space available to build new schools to replace what Jeffco wants to squander.  And rest assured that the voters in Jeffco are not going to be eager to pass any bond seeking to build new schools.

To their credit, some of the Board members asked thoughtful and probing questions.  One Board member questioned the already over-crowing at one of the schools filling the gap from a closed school.  She noted that space was so tight that teachers had to put filing cabinets in the hallway to make room for more desks.  In response, the Jeffco staff quickly noted that those teachers just didn’t know how to appropriately use their space… hopefully, the teachers at the impacted school got the message and will start being more space-conscious.  Or, maybe the staffer should visit that school and really see what’s happening.

Another Board member expressed concern over how to respond to her constituents about the more than $8,000,000 of taxpayer dollars recently spent to renovate these 5 schools.  The Jeffco staffers responded like deer in the headlights.

Jeffco’s dire financial status is not debatable.  Jeffco does not have a good track record of making wise decisions when it comes to its finances.  Even selling the 5 schools will not get Jeffco out of the financial hole it has dug.  But, here is something that might help… I wish I could take credit for this ingenious idea, but I overheard it from a group of people talking in the hallway after the Study Session:  Why doesn’t Jeffco Administration unload the palace that they reside in and strategically place various departments in the closed schools?  Why shouldn’t the administration staff be willing to “live” like the people they govern?  Jeffco Administration could save a ton of money and save the schools for future students.  WOW!  What a thought!!