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Work stops on Jeffco school for troubled kids

By Berny Morson, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published August 20, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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Jeffco Public Schools on Tuesday halted work on a building for a program serving troubled kids after neighbors complained about the project.

The Johnson Program provides alternative instruction and counseling for students in grades seven through nine, most of whom have been expelled from Jeffco schools.

The new facility for up to 135 students is planned for the campus that includes McLain Community High School and Long View High School, which also offer alternative programs, as well as Warren Tech and Red Rocks Community College.

Robert Wrigley, president of the Sixth Avenue West Homeowners Association, said his neighbors fear the Johnson program will lower their property values. "I think we're getting the raw end of the shaft," he said.

Jeff Sacco, another neighbor, said the district should have met with area residents.

School district spokeswoman Lynn Setzer agreed the district should have done that. That's the process when schools are designed, she said.

In this case, because Johnson serves the whole school district, rather than a specific neighborhood, that step wasn't taken, Setzer said.

Construction has been stopped at least until officials can meet with residents at a meeting tentatively set for Sept. 8. Workers had been tearing out a parking lot when construction was halted.

The Johnson Program is now housed in a former Golden elementary school, but wiring and fire safety at the building are considered obsolete, said Principal Deborah Staten.

Although the new building could serve 135 students, enrollment is typically 80 or 90 students, Staten said.

Johnson features high security and students do not leave campus for lunch.

At 20,000 square feet, it is about half the size of a standard Jeffco elementary school. It would be 550 feet from the nearest home.

The Johnson Program was included in a bond issue passed in 2004 and has been mentioned in materials posted on the district's Web site. But residents wouldn't have seen it unless they happened to look up information on the bond issue, Setzer said.

The district has owned the property where the building is planned for at least 30 years.