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November 19, 2020
JEFFERSON COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
JeffcoTranscript.com
VOLUME 37 | ISSUE 19
Jeffco Schools moves to remote learning Changes begin Nov. 30 for students in K-5 BY BOB WOOLEY BWOOLEY@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Veteran Stan Paprocki stands for a portrait at Green Mountain High School.
Veterans Day gift to Green Mountain High School Unique friendship between Vietnam veterans and students leads to a special celebration
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PHOTOS BY BOB WOOLEY
young masked trumpeter played and former brothers in arms silently looked on as Old Glory was raised under the blue Colorado sky. Members of Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter 1071, gathered at Green Mountain High School this Veterans Day to dedicate a 30 foot flagpole they donated to the school. This gift was just the latest in a string of interactions between the school and the veterans group that
Vietnam veterans attend a flagpole ceremony at Green Mountain High School. started six years ago when Social Studies Teacher, Miles Schwartz reached out to see if the veterans
would be interested in speaking to his students about their experiences in the war.
On Nov. 12, Jeffco Public Schools announced that grades 6-12 would move to all-remote learning beginning the following Monday, Nov. 16. Elementary schools K-5 will move to full remote learning after the Thanksgiving break. Those students will return to their all-remote classrooms beginning Nov. 30. Jeffco Public Schools, in consultation with Jefferson County Public Health, made the decision to end nearly all in-person learning citing the continued rise of COVID-19 cases in the community, case counts that are dwarfing the spike in cases this spring, when schools also moved to a full-remote system. As of Nov. 15 the district has reported 558 active cases among students and staff. Fourteen Jeffco school sites, mostly high schools, have double-digit active confirmed COVID-19 cases. During a school board study session last week Interim Superintendent Kristopher Schuh said more than a dozen Jeffco schools had to already move fullremote simply because the district did not have enough staff to run schools with so many people kept home by precautionary quarantines. “Simply put, we’ve now reached the point at which the benefits of inperson learning are outweighed by the disruption caused by abrupt transitions to quarantines and by the risk SEE SCHOOLS, P11
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 12 | LIFE: PAGE 14 | CALENDAR: PAGE 17 | SPORTS: PAGE 18
STUDIO QUALITY Options abound for those looking to record music, podcasts, poetry and more P14