School Board votes against closing O’Connell MS, 3 others

BULLETIN: The Jefferson County School District’s Board of Education early Friday voted to spare O’Connell Middle School and three others on a list of proposed school closures.

Only Russell Elementary School in Arvada will close after the post-midnight vote.

JEFFERSON COUNTY – The fate of Lakewood’s O’Connell Middle School and three other Jeffco schools hangs on a School Board vote expected to come at the School Board’s Thursday evening meeting.

Although the list of suggested school closings was trimmed from eight to four at a weekend board meeting, O’Connell remains on the proposed hit list along with Pleasant View Elementary School, either Arvada Middle School or Russell Elementary School and Wheat Ridge Middle School. The Wheat Ridge School was not on the original list submitted to the board by a Facilities Usage Committee appointed early last year to review the district’s use of schools and other buildings.

Wheat Ridge MS was added during the board’s Saturday special session. And four previous closure candidates – Ken Caryl Middle School, Martensen K-5, Zerger K-5 and Fitzmorris K-6 – were removed from the list submitted by the committee, which included community members and school district employees.

The only other significant change for Lakewood students is a recommendation to move Devinny Elementary’s 6th grade pupils to the adjacent Dunstan Middle School.

“We are trying to address a very real concern of the district and that is too much capacity,” said board president, Dave Thomas. “Many of our middle schools are at 60 percent capacity or less and we just can’t ignore that fact. However, capacity is just one factor we are taking a look at in making these very difficult decisions.”

Based on the list as it stood before Saturday’s meeting, the suggestions from the 30-member Usage Committee could save taxpayers as much as $5.88 million a year according to district estimates. The changes would require a one-time cost of $1.6 million, according to the estimates.

“It has to do with A: being efficient and using every dollar we can. And B: Do we need all our facilities,” school district superintendent Cindy Stevenson said.

A school district statement issued earlier this week said the board members also will consider “the impact of changes on the community, educational opportunities for students, the financial feasibility of the options, and whether the proposed changes could be implemented in a reasonable amount of time.”

Time for comment is short, but anyone with input on the proposed changes can submit comments at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/S2FX6FX.

Thursday’s board meeting begins at 6 p.m. and will include public comment on the list of options. Anyone wishing to speak may sign up beginning up at 3 p.m., on the 5th floor of the district’s Education Center, 1829 Denver West Drive, Golden.

The list of options also includes consolidations and the demolition of as many as 120 temporary classroom buildings district-wide. The taskforce, which includes community since March has been looking sifting through demographic facts and figures, public comment, how schools rate based on parental preference, operating costs, the condition of each building, enrollment, capacity and academic achievement.

Public meetings gathered comments of support as well as heated opposition, suggested alternatives and emotional appeals to save schools or programs in question.