The district鈥檚 new chief thought spring was too late for such a drastic move: Parents had already made plans for the fall term.

鈥淚 thought, 鈥榃hy are you closing a school right now? 鈥� 鈥� Dorland said. 鈥� We鈥檙e preparing for next year.鈥�

Enrollment at , a school in Arvada, outside Denver, hovered around 100 students 鈥� representing a 45% drop since 2017. Some grade levels had dwindled to a single classroom and the district was losing money on basic services like busing and lunch. Most extracurricular programs had disappeared.

But closing schools was 鈥減olitical suicide,鈥� Dorland thought.

Then she started visiting classrooms herself. 鈥淲e had families deciding to leave these small schools even though they loved them,鈥� she said. 

Since her arrival, Jeffco has shuttered 16 schools. Four more are slated to close at the end of the school year.

School communities forced to say goodbye to legacy institutions go through something akin to the stages of grief. Residents with emotional ties to schools their parents and grandparents attended frequently push back. But Dorland has earned respect for a straightforward approach to a process leaders will confront in the coming years. While implementing a daunting closure plan, she didn鈥檛 ignore the human cost, assigning staff members to ease both principals and families through the transition.

鈥淎 lot of people don鈥檛 have that muscle 鈥� to just look someone in the eye and say, 鈥業 know this is devastating, but I鈥檓 looking at the district as a whole,鈥� ” said Trace Faust, senior project director at the Keystone Policy Center, a Colorado nonprofit that held community meetings to discuss the closures. “That鈥檚 a bold thing to do, and that鈥檚 what districts need right now.鈥�

In Colorado, as in much of the nation, experts chalk up enrollment declines to a drop in birth rates and housing prices that remain out of reach for most young families. The 鈥済ateway to the Rockies鈥� is such a desirable place to live that older after their children grow up, leaving fewer houses on the market. 

A need to grieve

At Fitzmorris Elementary, one first grade class had just five students. Small schools lacked their own music and physical education teachers. And afterschool providers canceled programs because only a handful of students signed up.

After a second last-minute vote to shut down Fitzmorris in the spring of 2022, board members decided they could no longer address closures piecemeal. The district recommended shutting down 16 schools and held a series of community meetings before casting a final, unanimous vote in November. The timing gave families the rest of the school year to absorb what the changes would mean for their children.

But some of those gatherings didn鈥檛 get off to a great start. With talk of 鈥渞e-envisioning鈥� schools and the benefits of consolidation, the staff from Keystone was several steps ahead of the community 鈥� even 鈥渢one deaf鈥� to parents鈥� concerns, Dorland said. 

Faust agreed those first meetings 鈥渉onestly missed the mark. The community needed to grieve and needed to be mad.鈥�

That鈥檚 when principals began to take a larger role in the conversations. School leaders could 鈥済et the room back together if things were going sideways,鈥� Faust said. Some stationed themselves in their school libraries for days to talk to parents one on one.

What Dorland didn鈥檛 want, however, was parents coming to the forums hoping to get leaders to reconsider. 

鈥淚 don’t believe in pretending like communities have a choice when they don’t,鈥� she said.

鈥楧on鈥檛 want a mass exodus鈥�

That left some parents feeling shut out. Families from Kullerstrand Elementary, a Title I school in the Jeffco city of Wheat Ridge, wrote letters and protested at public hearings.

鈥淭heir minds were already made up, which was really sad,鈥� said Kim St. Martin, Kullerstand鈥檚 former PTA president. 

After the board鈥檚 latest vote in October to this spring, some parents threatened to leave the district. 

鈥淭hat’s a tricky situation, because we don’t want a mass exodus,鈥� said LaVerne Manzanares, a former reading specialist who now helps families with children attending new schools.

Michael Zweifel, a former principal whose school, New Classical Academy at Vivian, was one of those closed, also shifted to a new role. She began supporting administrators at 鈥渞eceiving鈥� schools that suddenly had to accommodate more cars in their parking lots and students in the lunch line. They鈥檝e opened up spots on school leadership committees for teachers from closing schools, and held ice cream socials, movie nights and picnics for families to meet.

The closures were especially jarring for families in Wheat Ridge, a tight-knit community between Denver and the Rockies. The district closed three of the small city鈥檚 elementary schools, sparking anxiety about the future of its local high school. 

Alanna Ritchie, whose first grader attended Wilmore-Davis Elementary, was among who wanted Wheat Ridge city council members to pressure district leaders to change their minds. During a September 2022 council meeting, she warned the mergers could lead to the opposite problem 鈥� overcrowding 鈥� and that some of the receiving schools couldn鈥檛 accommodate additional traffic.

The convenience of walking to school is a 鈥渞ight鈥� that was being 鈥渞ipped away from our own children,鈥� she said. 鈥淪mall, connected neighborhood schools 鈥� it’s what defines us as a true community.鈥�

St. Martin, the former Kullerstrand PTA president, still gets choked up over losing her neighborhood school. It was important to her, she said, that her children attended a more racially diverse school. Now they attend predominantly white Prospect Valley Elementary.

鈥淪elfishly, I loved my relationships,鈥� she added. 鈥淵ou could talk to any teacher.鈥� 

鈥楧ay and night contrast鈥�

While some parents wish they could have had more say over which schools closed, experts say Dorland鈥檚 plan was better than leaving families in limbo. Brian Eschbacher, an enrollment consultant, said the uncompromising way she managed the closures is a 鈥渘ight and day contrast鈥� to how Denver Public Schools, her previous employer, handled a similar issue.

Denver leaders a definitive list of schools to be closed last school year. They from the community, but ultimately abandoned a closure plan in the face of emotional appeals from parents.

Denver鈥檚 union-backed school board placed a lot of the blame for enrollment loss on . But Eschbacher, who previously led planning and enrollment services for the district, said the city has contributed to enrollment decline by continuing to approve construction of luxury that don鈥檛 attract families with young children. 

鈥淚 always tell boards, 鈥楾his is outside of your control. This is about births and housing, and you don’t control either,鈥� 鈥� he said.

Meanwhile, the challenges that defined Dorland鈥檚 early tenure aren鈥檛 over. Her plan to close two K-8 schools 鈥� Arvada and Coal Creek 鈥� has strong opponents, including Danielle Varda, the only person on the five-member board to vote against closure. She thinks the decision to shut down the two schools was rushed. Closing Arvada K-8 will cause further disruption for students who have been through previous mergers, she told the board. The district would also have to expand programs for English learners and immigrants at other schools when Arvada K-8 already offers those services.

鈥淭his plan perpetuates systemic oppression that these families have faced much of their lives,鈥� she said.

Dorland acknowledges that parents in Wheat Ridge, where families have lived for generations, are 鈥減robably still angry.鈥� She wishes she had done more to help city and county officials understand why the district couldn鈥檛 put off closing schools any longer. But once the decision was made, the consolidation process moved quickly.

鈥淲e had run out of runway,鈥� she said, 鈥渁nd we had to take off.鈥�