will close six schools in Northglenn, Thornton, Westminster and Broomfield next year, becoming the latest district in metro Denver to shutter buildings in response to declining enrollment statewide.
The district’s Board of Education voted 4-1 Wednesday evening to approve the closures, which will go into effect at the end of the current academic year. The decision will save the Thornton-based district $5 million annually.
“I know this decision will not make everyone happy,” said board President Lori Goldstein before the vote. “I wish there was a solution that avoided all disruption and disappointment.”
More than 1,500 students and 340 employees will be impacted by the closures, district officials have said.
The schools that will close are:
- North Mor Elementary in Northglenn. Its students will move to either Hillcrest or Westview elementary schools.
- Rocky Mountain Elementary in Westminster. Its students will transition to Cotton Creek, Federal Heights or North Star elementaries.
- Centennial Elementary in Broomfield. Its students will go to Arapahoe Ridge Elementary.
- Cherry Drive Elementary in Thornton. Its students will move to Riverdale Elementary.
- The Studio School in Northglenn. Its students can opt into their neighborhood school or another via the state’s choice system.
- Shadow Ridge Middle School in Thornton. Its students will move to Century or Rocky Top middle schools.
Several community members addressed the board before directors voted to close schools, and many urged the district to keep their schools open.
“I’m asking you guys to vote ‘no’ tonight,” one Centennial Elementary parent said. “Please don’t close our school. Our kids need our schools.”
Board members acknowledged how difficult it is to close schools before they voted, but said the decision is necessary because the district isn’t able to provide small schools with the resources students need.
“I’m being asked to break apart a community, a community I have loved my whole life,” said board member Alexis Marsh-Holschen. “…The facts are we don’t have the students we need to operate in the way that we have been operating and that fact is not going to change.”
Board member Paula Battistelli was the lone vote against the closures. She said she had concerns about the changes on class sizes and after school programs.
“I don’t think that the plan is there yet,” she said.
Public school enrollment is falling statewide as fewer Coloradans have children and rising housing costs affect where families live. In Adams 12, specifically, families are aging in place, which means houses aren’t turning over to younger parents with children.
Schools receive less per-pupil funding from the state when they have fewer students. As a result, K-12 districts have been retrenching in recent years by closing buildings.
Denver Public Schools, the state’s largest district, closed seven schools last year. Jeffco Public Schools has shuttered 21 campuses in recent years. The Douglas County School District closed three elementary schools in July. The Boulder Valley School District will close four elementary schools and restructure grade levels at two schools next year.
The in Fort Collins is considering shuttering nine schools and consolidating two others next year. Poudre’s school board is scheduled to vote on the closures Oct. 27.
Overall, Adams 12 serves about 7,400 fewer students than it did eight years ago and enrollment it expected to continue to fall.
Falling enrollment has been most apparent in elementary schools. For example, elementaries in Adams 12 have the capacity to serve more than 15,000 students, but there are only about 10,500 children attending those schools. The district’s middle schools are also below capacity, with space for more than 8,700 pupils and just 5,200 middle school students, according to the district.
“The fact of the matter is folks are having less kids, which results in a lower enrollment,” said board member Ike Anyanwu-Ebo.
The school board also approved other changes to the district Wednesday, including new boundaries for two middle schools. Under the plan, Hulstrom K-8, a gifted magnet school in Northglenn, will also move to Shadow Ridge’s campus so that it can expand to include preschoolers.
With the move, enrollment in the school will rise from 690 students to 950 pupils. The district will use the school’s old building to open a K-8 magnet school with an arts emphasis.
