LITTLETON — The Littleton school board is poised to close two elementary schools tonight, a move that has parents frustrated, hurt and feeling betrayed.
Ames and Whitman will be shuttered starting next school year because of low enrollment, according to the district. Ames is at 49 percent capacity, while Whitman is 64 percent full.
“It’s not right for this community,” said Ames parent Smita Kramer. “What’s the point in staying in this district if they close the school down?”
Others also said they would look for options outside Littleton Public Schools if the schools are closed.
Last week, Superintendent Scott Murphy sent a letter to parents about the closings, detailing how children will be moved to other schools in the district.
School board president Bob Colwell has said the closures aren’t necessarily about saving money, although the district faces a $4 million shortfall for the next school year.
“We as a district have to subsidize lower-enrollment schools to provide the quality programs we want in Littleton,” he said. “We have to do something, and when we look at all the alternatives, these are the ones we feel we need to look at the most.”
The issue has been a sensitive one for parents. At a meeting at Ames this week in Centennial, about 100 parents raised more than $3,000 on the spot to hire an attorney to argue for keeping the school open.
The district said it is taking the action because of declining enrollment. It has been going down for about a decade. In 1997, there were 15,657 students in the district. Last year, there were 14,431 students, and projections for 2012 call for 13,846 students.
School district officials say they will not keep the two schools closed permanently. They will try to open other programs in the vacant buildings, such as early-childhood education or alternative schools. But no plan, timetable or budget has been announced.
A task force met for more than a year and found that closing one elementary school could save $580,000 annually. It also initially identified four schools for possible closure, but the board decided on two.
Several parents said they were unaware of the schools being considered for closure until two months ago.
“Everyone’s feeling it. It’s so unexpected,” said Monica McArdle, who has three children who attend Ames.
Count Doug McBride among the confused.
He moved from Aurora closer to Ames because of the high test scores and low class sizes, which for his daughter means 19 students to one teacher, he said. Now, if she is moved to other elementary schools in the district, the ratio will be about 29-to-1, he said.
“I’m pretty frustrated and feeling left out,” he said. “This is one of the gems in the public school system. It’s become a great part of the community.”
That wasn’t always the case. Since principal Nancy Kline dinst came on board five years ago, she has improved test scores significantly.
The School Accountability Report released from the state noted that Ames has made “significant improvement.” And this year’s Colorado Student Assessment Program scores showed Ames gained in seven of 10 areas tested and it placed first among Littleton district elementary schools on the science CSAP.
Ames also is a deaf and hard-of-hearing school, with exclusive programs to help those students. The two schools where current Ames students would go after the closure do not have such programs.
Many in the community are hoping the school board will have a change of heart tonight but acknowledge that’s extremely unlikely.
“It is really sad,” said Ann Brown, whose two children attend Whitman. “Whitman has been here for such a long time. It is part of the community.”
Carlos Illescas: 303-954-1175 or cillescas@denverpost.com
