Our Communities: Our Legacy is named as one of the four priorities of Jeffco Public School’s strategic plan, Jeffco Thrives 2025. The goal of this priority is to create positive, mutually respectful and trusting connections with Jeffco families and community partners to support student success.
Aligned with this, the focus of the Regional Opportunities community conversations, is prioritizing welcoming and inclusive school cultures in communities where two schools are proposed to come together to create one stronger, and more sustainable school.
Community Conversations
Jeffco hosted 90 minute in-person community conversations in September and October at each school recommended for closure. All members of the school community, as well as neighbors, were invited to attend and join the conversation. Topics discussed at these events ranged from enrollment data, building utilization, population data, values and desires for your student’s education, and to bring together the two consolidating school communities.
It is important to know that while District representatives explained the process and factors that led to the recommendations and answer questions about that process or history, community conversations were not being held to assess or debate whether to close any particular school or the process used to make recommendations to the Board. Time for this was available at the Board public hearings in late October.
In addition to hearing from Jeffco about the data and process, a significant amount of time at the community conversations was be committed to looking forward aspirationally about “the possible.”
Families, students and community members engaged in conversations about the potential to build an even more thriving, welcoming and vibrant school community going forward. All attendees were invited to share their vision for the future, to identify new opportunities and the types of supports, resources, and collaboration that they believe will best support their family and the school community.
In partnership with Keystone Policy Center, a report was created to include a summary of the process undertaken, the dynamic of conversations and a high level summary of ideas generated during Community Conversations and the online survey.
READ THE KEYSTONE REPORT
Schedules and Agendas
The following is a schedule of community conversations around proposed consolidations being considered by the Jeffco Board of Education in November 2022. Meetings took place at schools recommended for closure. Interpretation services were provided at each meeting.