THORNTON — Before the Adams 12 Five Star Schools Board of Education voted in favor of closing and consolidating schools within the district, one member said they were being asked to make a heartbreaking choice that will rip communities apart.
Still, those on the board and with the district believed the difficult decision was necessary, due to declining enrollment.
“A lot of heartache," Superintendent Chris Gdowski told reporters after the vote. "I've just had a sick feeling in my stomach all the way up until making the recommendation on Sept. 3rd, and it stayed there this entire month.”
As the vote was cast, tears were shed by parents in the crowd, who tried for one last time to convince the district to reconsider the recommendation.
"Please don't close our school," Lori Moore, a parent, pleaded with the board before they voted. "Our kids need our schools, and we need you to be our voice. You are our voice tonight. Keep our kids where they belong in our school.”
The approved recommendation, which includes the closing of five elementary schools and one middle school, will take effect for the 2027-28 school year.
The vote means five elementary schools and one middle school will close, impacting more than 1,500 students. Those with the district say the changes will result in roughly $5 million worth of annual savings after the first year of implementation.
Now that the vote has been cast, the following changes will go into effect at the start of the 2027-28 school year, as reported by a spokesperson with the school district:
- Five elementary schools will close: North Mor, Rocky Mountain, Centennial, Cherry Drive and The Studio School.
- One middle school will close: Shadow Ridge.
- Students affected by closures will have a place at their designated receiving school. Families interested in another district school can apply with priority consideration through the schools of choice process from November 1 through December 15, 2026.
- The closures will affect 1,586 students.
- The six schools employ 341 staff. The district is working with its employee associations and remains committed to providing commensurate job opportunities for impacted staff through the 2027-28 school year.
- Two middle school attendance boundaries will change to balance enrollment among buildings.
- Hulstrom K-8, a gifted magnet school with an ongoing waitlist, will relocate to the current Shadow Ridge campus and expand from approximately 690 students in K-8 to approximately 950 students in P-8.
- A new K-8 magnet school with an arts emphasis will open at the current Hulstrom site on Wyco Drive in Northglenn, contingent on reaching a minimum enrollment of 420 students by Dec. 15, the end of the first round of choice.
- The school will serve kindergarten through sixth grade in 2027-28, expand to seventh grade in 2028-29 and add eighth grade in 2029-30. The Studio School students will be guaranteed enrollment at the new magnet school.
All five elementary schools recommended for closure serve fewer than 300 K-5 students.
Shadow Ridge serves fewer than 600 students and is the district’s only middle school, using less than half of its building.
The district has cited declining enrollment as driving the recommendation, with Gdowski saying the district has experienced a decrease of roughly 7,400 students in the last eight years.
"7,400 students down in eight years is a byproduct of the birth rate in our country plummeting significantly ever since the Great Recession. Since 2007 to now, the birth rate's down 23%," Gdowski said.
In addition, Gdowski said housing in the district has become expensive and many families are priced out of the area.
"We hear families every year saying we're moving to more rural parts of Colorado or leaving the state because they can't afford to live here," Gdowski said.
Plus, federal immigration enforcement has led to a drop in the number of students within the school district, according to Gdowski.
"We've had a lot of families leave in the last 18 months to two years because of immigration enforcement," the superintendent said.
According to Gdowski, all employees with good standing in the school district will still have a job next year.
