STANDARD BLADE B R I G H T O N
SERVING THE COMMUNITY SINCE 1903
75cI
VOLUME 119
Issue 04
WEEK OF JANUARY 27, 2022
SOLDIERS RETURN HOME
‘Personal choices’ behind surge in traffic deaths Officials study statewide increase, with total for 2021 likely to top 700 BY PAOLO ZIALCITA CPR NEWS
Preliminary data from the Colorado Department of Transportation shows 672 people died on Colorado roads in 2021, the state’s most since 2002. That number is expected to exceed 700 once final tallies come in, according to Colorado State Patrol chief Matthew Packard. During a Jan. 19 press conference announcing the record, Packard urged people to take personal responsibility for reducing traffic deaths. He said too many people get behind the wheel while impaired, or are distracted when on the road. “It’s appalling to me to think that that many people senselessly lose their lives in something that we do every day,” Packard said. Overall, the state has seen a 50 percent increase in traffic deaths since 2011, and deaths on Colorado roadways increased by 8 percent last year compared to 2020. The early count shows 432 crashes involved people in cars and trucks, while 145 were motorcycle or bicycle riders. In addition, 87 pedestrians were killed by incoming traffic. Colorado Springs and greater El Paso County had the most road fatalities in the state last year, with 77. Denver reported 65 fatal crashes during the same period. Police officials from around the state said they plan to expand enforcement in areas with a disproportionate share of fatalities. But they argued during Tuesday’s briefing that a systemic crackdown on traffic safety is not the solution. “The causations we’ve talked about today that cause accidents, those are personal choices,” Colorado Springs Police Department chief Vincent Niski said. “It’s not infrastructure, a lot of it’s not SEE INCREASE, P4
Soldiers from Colorado Army National Guard Company B, First Battalion start searching for their personal items after getting off their bus home in Fort Lupton Jan. 21. See more photos page 7.
Colorado public schools enrollment declines Declining birth rates, coupled with COVID disruptions drives down numbers BY ERICA BREUNLIN COLORADO SUN
Student enrollment has continued declining across Colorado public schools, with the state counting about 1,200 fewer students in kindergarten through 12th grade this fall than last year, when enrollment in preschool through high school plunged by about 30,000 students. State officials largely attributed last year’s enrollment slump — which was the first of its kind reported in more than 30 years — to parents’ pandemic-driven decisions. Many held off on enrolling kids in preschool and kindergarten while other families switched
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to homeschooling or online education programs. And the Colorado Department of Education, which on Wednesday released enrollment numbers from a count conducted in October, expected that enrollment numbers would increase again within the next few years. But the dip in K-12 students this year points to an underlying issue that has nothing to do with the pandemic: declining birth rates. The drop in student count this year isn’t some kind of “COVID blip,” said Brian Eschbacher, a Denver-based independent education consultant who previously served as executive director of planning and enrollment for Denver Public Schools. Declining birth rates are having a trickledown effect on K-12 enrollment, with education being “the first government institution that is going to feel the impacts of a shrinking country,” Eschbacher said. “It is absolutely here and it is not going to get better and our
LOCAL
2 •Council reluctantly 3 approves Founders 11 Plaza work 15 • Page 3 18
SPORTS • Prairie View gets past Gateway easily
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school systems don’t know how to deal with it,” he said. Declining numbers could spell financial trouble for some school districts, because district budgets are largely determined by pupil counts. “The reality is fewer kids does equate to less funding in many cases,” said Kate Bartlett, executive director of school district operations for the state education department. During fiscal year 2021, Colorado had 61,970 births, down about 9,000 from 2007, a peak year that saw 70,777 births, according to state demographer Elizabeth Garner. The decrease comes even though Colorado has more women of childbearing age, Garner said.Colorado districts across metro, suburban and rural communities showed enrollment declines, as did schools in cities and towns of all sizes across the country, Eschbacher said. SEE DECLINE, P8
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