October 18, 2012
Arapahoe County, Colorado • Volume 123, Issue 39
75 cents
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourlittletonnews.com
Programs’ funding targeted for change
A WET PATCH
Future could be different for Omnibus, Shopping Cart, GLYI By Jennifer Smith
jsmith@ourcoloradonews.com
Phoebe Petrash, 4, loses control of her umbrella Oct. 13 during a rainy Saturday afternoon in the Littleton Museum pumpkin patch. The annual Harvest Festival and County Fair featured wagon rides, concessions, entertainment, old-fashioned games, a pig roast, and fresh-pressed cider. The next fall-themed event at the museum is “Walking With the Dead,” an after-dark tour of the 1860s farm that will be held a few days before Halloween on Oct. 27. More information is available at www.littletongov.org/museum/events. Photo by Courtney Kuhlen | ckuhlen@ourcoloradonews.com
School district’s numbers leveling out Fewer kids the new norm, analysts say By Jennifer Smith
jsmith@ourcoloradonews.com Kids need school, but schools need kids, too. Enrollment in Littleton Public Schools has been on a steady downward trend
since a recent high of 16,284 in 2001; in 2011, there were just 15,040 students. But analysts think the district has bottomed out and will remain fairly steady from here on out. “We’ve seen the light at the end of the tunnel, and we’re fairly confident it’s not a train coming the other direction,” Denny Hill of consulting firm Strategic Resources West told the Littleton Public Schools Board of Education on Oct. 11. It matters partly because state funding
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for schools is based on enrollment, and partly to ensure buildings are being used efficiently. When it became apparent in 2009 that wasn’t the case, the board made the tough decision to close Whitman and Ames elementary schools. “Making the decision to close Ames and Whitman elementary schools was very difficult for the board, and it had a significant impact on those communities,” said Bob Colwell, board president. “But this study shows us how doing so kept enrollment strong and facility capacity up at the other elementary schools. If we hadn’t closed schools, we would be facing the same issues today that we were back then.” Hill said he doesn’t see more closures on the horizon, but the reality is there just aren’t as many kids in the district as there were in the boom days of the ’60s and ’70s. An aging population, low housing turnover and declining incomes have School continues on Page 6
With the words “tightening budget” on everyone’s lips, Littleton City Council took a hard look at the funding of three popular community programs on Oct. 9: Omnibus, Shopping Cart and Greater Littleton Youth Initiative. All three are included in the 2013 budget, set for a final vote by council on Oct. 16. City Manager Michael Penny said the discussion was intended for consideration of the programs in years following. Mayor Debbie Brinkman said the intent is not to get rid of the programs, but to find alternate ways to fund them. The city funds GLYI to the tune of $110,000 a year, and Omnibus costs about $232,000 counting three full-time drivers and overhead. The Shopping Cart is about $56,500 counting three part-time drivers, but RTD contributes about $27,000 of that. GLYI arose from the aftermath of the Columbine shootings. It supports “blueprint” programs that are scientifically proven to help kids, like suicide prevention, family therapy and early childhood education. Kay Wilmesher, the city employee who serves as GLYI’s executive director, said the group serves nearly 40,000 people a year. Councilor Phil Cernanec praised the data-driven aspect of the programs. “We know we’re on the right path, not just the feel-good warm fuzzies,” he said. Omnibus has picked up about 5,600 seniors and people with disabilities so far this year. Since 1974, it has taken them grocery shopping and to medical, hair and other appointments. City Clerk Wendy Heffner described one passenger, a 40-year-old woman who uses a wheelchair. She volunteers at a preschool three days a week; that’s good for her and the kids, so Omnibus takes her. “That’s what we’re all about, helping people,” said Heffner. Omnibus is a call-and-ride service that only travels within city limits, with a few exceptions for medical appointments. The Shopping Cart, on the other hand, has a set route and schedule. It picks up passengers from senior-housing facilities in Littleton and drops them off and picks them back up at King Soopers, Safeway, Walmart Neighborhood Market and Streets at SouthGlenn. So far this year, it has transported 804 people. “Sometimes a senior will go without food because they don’t have a way to get to the store,” said Heffner.