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is projected to be about 930.

At Conifer High Schol, enrollment was 869 in the 2019-20 school year. is year, it’s at 820 students, and next year’s enrollment is projects to be about 815.

EHS principal Skyler Artes and Conifer High School principal Greg Manier have worked out a plan to keep theater classes at both schools: EHS theater teacher Scott Ogle will split his time between the two schools.

“CHS has maintained comprehensive programs through creative scheduling as our enrollment has been declining,” Manier said. “Our theater partnership moving forward is an example. ere are a lot more opportunities like that.”

But parents in the audience said a half-time theater teacher at each school was not enough.

Artes countered that the two high schools need to look at what they need to do to keep the programs while keeping within the budget.

“As enrollment contracts, we have to get the budget in line, too,” she said. “We have to come to a place where we understand what is important to our community and have a budget that supports it.”

Artes previously said while the pandemic was part of the cause for lower enrollment in performing arts, she wonders if high schools’ competing interests are partly to blame. Performing arts activities compete for students’ time with Advanced Placement classes, college requirements, other electives and more.

“What we are doing now is planning to keep programs solid at EHS,” Artes said. “It’s an important part for students to feel they belong, feel part of community and feel good in school. (Performing arts classes) aren’t going away.”

Parents said part of the problem was that Evergreen Middle School’s choral music program was cut several years ago, so there is no pipeline for performing arts. ey asked that the district provide both vocal and instrumental music at all levels.

“Performing arts are core courses, every bit as appropriate in a curriculum as math, English, social studies and science,” Wendy McCord, president of Supporters of Evergreen eatre, which is the performing arts programs’ booster club, said.

Parents said scienti c studies show the performing arts help kids across the board, give kids an outlet and teach kids to cooperate with other children. Communication and empathy are fostered in performing arts speci cally and humanities generally.

Student, sta mental health

Dorland said that social-emotional learning specialists are in all Je co schools thanks to a mill-levy override approved by voters in 2018. Plus counselors, social workers and psychologists provide support to students.

But, she noted, that’s not enough especially with the added issues students and sta are experiencing thanks to the pandemic.

“ is is a topic of interest for our (school) board,” Dorland said. “ ey care passionately about mental health of students and sta . e question is how do we increase services available to families in mental health and behavioral support space for our kids.”

She noted that even if the school district provides more funding for more positions, it’s di cult to ll them.

Dorland said the district is contracting with Hazel Health to provide telehealth services to Je co Public Schools families, and students will be able to talk from home with counselors through the program with an adult present.

She noted that it was important to support teachers, who also provide an important link to students.

“Students need to feel welcome, safe and (know) there are many trusted people in our buildings they can talk to,” Dorland said.

She was grateful to the community for supporting teachers, who are dealing with more issues in the classroom, plus their own issues at home, noting that the district was nding ways to support sta , recognize them for their work and create cultures of belonging for school sta s, too.

School start-time changes

A parent asked Dorland what was the reasoning behind the change in school times that go into e ect in fall 2023.

He said his kindergartner will start school before 8 a.m., and while the later start times bene t older stu-

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dents, the earlier start time for young children was a detriment.

In November, Je co Public Schools announced that elementary schools would generally meet from 7:45 a.m.-2:30 p.m., high schools from 8:30-3:45 p.m. and middle schools from 9 a.m.-4 p.m., though there are slight variations in the times based on school bus routes.

Currently in the foothills, the high schools start rst, followed by the middle schools and elementary schools.

“Not a single parent, teacher or principal that I know of is in support of making little kids start school before 8 a.m.,” the parent said. “Everybody we know was strongly opposed to making the youngest kids start that early. What bene t do the schools see to disrupting the youngest kids’ schedules?”

Dorland explained that the start times are following scienti c research that say adolescent brains are in a better place to learn later in the day and are addressing inequities throughout the district in terms of instructional time.

“We can’t a ord to have all schools start at 8:15 a.m. or 8:30 a.m. because we would need so many more buses and drivers,” Dorland said. “ at has led us to where we are today. is is a huge and massive puzzle with thousands and thousands of pieces.”

Dorland said the district would implement the new start times in the fall and continue to get feedback from parents and students.

“It seems like we’re shortchanging the younger kids to adjust to research,” the parent said. “As a result of this, we are looking to go to

Jeffco Public Schools Building Safety

Je co Public Schools Superintendent

Tracy Dorland says she is heartbroken over the number of school shootings taking place both locally and nationwide, and the school district is doing everything it can to keep students safe.

A parent at a town hall meeting on April 10 at Evergreen High School asked about school safety, especially after a student shot two administrators at Denver’s East High School last month.

Dorland said students involved in the criminal justice system because of any violent crime are not allowed to attend Je co schools. Instead, the district finds an alternative method of providing an education.

In addition, school sta members are not allowed to search students if they believe the student has a weapon. Sta is trained to call in law enforcement, and since Je co Public Schools has school resource o cers, there is someone available to help in such situations. She said plans were in place throughout the district in case of a school shooter, but she didn’t want to divulge the plans to the public for safety reasons. “(School shooters) scare me,” Dorland said. “We want to do everything we can to protect our schools. I’m glad we have police departments from eight municipalities and the sheri ’s o ce that we work with to protect our students.” private school or home schooling. We don’t want to, but this is the impact from a parent perspective that creates the decision we are having to make.” is will not be easy. First you have to know which districts you pay taxes in. en you have to learn which of them is holding elections, who is running for board positions, where to go to vote, or how to request an absentee ballot. e elections are run by each district, not by Je erson County, and you might have to go to more than one location in order to cast your ballots. Learning anything about the

This year marks the 250th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, a protest over taxation without representation. It’s been 30 years since Colorado voters approved the so-called Taxpayer Bill of Rights, or TABOR, which requires a vote of the people before any tax increase. Ballot issues related to taxes face us at every general election.

If we care so much about taxes, why do so few of us pay attention to our property taxes? Possibly because we are often not aware of what they are. For renters and for people with a mortgage, the sum of those taxes is rolled into their monthly payment. ey seldom, if ever, see the list of all the entities their tax dollars support.

Many of our property taxes are levied by special districts, which are formed by law to provide speci c services like water and sewer, re protection or recreation. Elections for Directors of these districts will be held May 2. I urge you to get informed and to vote.