The Jefferson County school board announced Friday that it has decided to delay action on a five-year plan that would close several elementary schools.
The plan, first proposed to the school board Jan. 6, would phase out as many as 10 elementary schools and replace or consolidate several others.
With the school board’s decision, no closures or changes will occur during the 2011-12 school year.
The plan can still be brought up next year.
The board said the main reason behind tabling the plan was the small window the board would have had to go over it.
“The main issue was that we received the plan on Jan. 6, and we would have had to make a decision by March,” said school board vice president Jane Barnes. “It didn’t give us enough time to really vet these decisions and go out into the community and discuss it. We need to have the time to go over everything and make sure we are making a decision based on the right reasons.”
The 10 schools at risk of closure were Campbell, Glennon Heights, Kullerstrand, Parr, Pleasant View, Red Rocks, Martensen, Stober, Thomson and Zerger elementary schools.
Six schools would be consolidated under the plan: Colorow and Leawood, Kendrick Lakes and Patterson, and Green Gables and Westgate elementary schools. Two other schools, Marshdale and Prospect Valley elementaries, would be replaced.
The plan also would realign school enrollment boundaries and move some sixth-graders into middle schools, changes that Barnes said must not be overlooked as most people focus on the school closures.
“There are a lot of underlying issues with this plan,” Barnes said. “We have to have these conversations before we can go on with this plan.”
The plan is the result of a two-year study conducted by a team of architects and consultants regarding the county’s facilities.
According to the study, the district has 154 schools encompassing a total of 11.2 million square feet. The district has 80,696 students.
Mitchell Byars: 303-954-1698 or mbyars@denverpost.com
