Westminster – Closing schools is the cure for a strained budget in one Adams County school district, while another is rejiggering start times for students and cutting back on hiring and staff development.
The Adams 50 School District in Westminster plans to close five schools over the next two years. Staff members at Hodgkins Middle School already are planning the school’s going- away party in May.
They are inviting past parents, students and teachers to enjoy a day of remembrance for a school that has served the city since 1951.
“We’re making it a celebration for the kids, neighbors and everybody connected to the school,” said Hodgkins principal Carol Peters, who has spent 17 years at the school. “But there is some sadness.”
“It’s all been very emotional,” said Hodgkins parent Lora Davidek. “But I think, in the long run, it will be good for the district and the kids.”
Hodgkins as well as the other four schools on the hit list are old and in need of millions of dollars in repairs, officials say.
Westminster Hills and Vista Grande elementary schools also are slated to close in May. Baker and Berkeley Gardens elementary schools are targeted next year.
The doomed schools are victims of steadily declining enrollment. Adams 50 saw a 38 percent decline in the number of students – from 17,000 to fewer than 11,000 – in a little more than a decade, said district spokeswoman Deb Haviland.
“Maintaining 32 facilities was not fiscally responsible given those numbers,” Haviland said.
Enrollment drops trouble school districts because funding is lost as the student population dips. Overall, enrollment in Colorado is up 1.71 percent to 794,026 compared with the previous school year, according to the Colorado Department of Education.
Douglas County continues to be an enrollment leader, with a 24 percent jump in students in four years – 40,511 in 2002 to 50,370 in 2006.
Other districts are seeing spotty enrollment trends. In Denver Public Schools, officials have seen a steady drop in enrollment in traditional schools while charter schools continue to grow, said Ethan Hemming, the district’s director for planning and innovation.
“We are putting a heavy emphasis on recruiting for our traditional schools,” Hemming said.
The Adams 50 district estimates it will save $1.25 million in annual costs by shuttering the five schools. Officials hope to sell the school sites.
Meanwhile, a $98.6 million bond issue passed in November will allow Adams 50 to build a new elementary school on the old Hodgkins site and a new high school. The last new school built in the district was Westminster High in 1975, Haviland said.
In the neighboring Adams 12 school district, officials are looking to trim $4.7 million out of the budget by a variety of measures including standardizing the start and end times at schools. A more uniform schedule will save about $600,000 annually.
The district also is cutting back on professional development and hiring of maintenance workers. Rising costs from health care to utilities are to blame for the belt-tightening, said district spokesperson Joe Ferdani.
Adams 12 has no plans to close schools, Ferdani said, and layoffs aren’t planned at either district.
At Hodgkins, there are fissures that creep up closet walls in classrooms and in the foundation of the building.
Still, there is plenty of sentimentality surrounding each structure, said resident Skeet Hartman, who has studied the building woes in the district for years.
But for the district to thrive, it must build schools that can be fitted with the newest technology and make learning easier for kids, Hartman said.
“We’re not saying air conditioning is the answer to better test scores,” Hartman said. “But we need schools that are conducive to teaching our kids.”
Staff writer Monte Whaley can be reached at 720-929-0907 or mwhaley@denverpost.com.
38 percent
Decline that Adams 50 School District has experienced in the number of students – from 17,000 to fewer than 11,000 – in a little more than a decade
$1.25 million
Amount the district estimates it will save in annual costs by shuttering the five schools. Officials hope to sell the school sites.
