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September 19, 2014 VOLU M E 1 3 | I SS UE 43
CentennialCitizen.net A R A P A H O E C O U N T Y, C O L O R A D O
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Early data shows drop in student enrollment Littleton Public Schools’ final count starts Sept. 25 By Jennifer Smith
jsmith@colorado communitymedia.com
South Metro firefighters look for “victims” inside a damaged fuselage during an emergency training exercise held at Centennial Airport on Sept. 8. The full-scale exercise simulated a “worst-case” scenario — a nighttime charter jet accident. Airport operations, firefighters, medical services and law enforcement agencies took park in the exercise, which is designed to challenge interagency communication and coordination. Photos by Deborah Grigsby Smith/Centennial Airport
Fire crews train for plane crash Centennial Airport hosts South Metro, other agencies By Mike DiFerdinando
mdiferdinando @coloradocommunitymedia.com Fire roared from the crashed plane just off of the runway at Centennial Airport. Fire trucks and ambulances surrounded the site of the accident, spraying water and foam to quell the flames and burning debris. Smoke billowed out from inside as firefighters combed the cabin for passengers. “What we put together is
what we would consider a worst-case scenario at this particular airport,” said Deborah Smith, Centennial Airport’s public information officer. The crashed charter jet and casualties were part of three days of multi-agency training simulations put on by Centennial Airport in conjunction with South Metro Fire Rescue, the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office, the Federal Aviation Administration and AirLife Denver. “This training is invaluable for us,” Capt. Jeff Lanigan of South Metro Fire Rescue said. Crash continues on Page 9
Firefighters from South Metro use an Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting vehicle on a real fuel fire during a simulated aircraft accident at Centennial Airport.
Preliminary figures show that enrollment in Littleton Public Schools declined about 1 percent from last year and failed to meet projections in all but four grade levels. “There were some areas we were concerned about, but until we get good numbers, I wouldn’t spend a lot of time worrying about it,” Diane Doney, LPS chief operations officer, told the school board on Sept. 11. The official count window is Sept. 25 through Oct. 7, and Doney expects the final numbers to look better. The biggest hit is at the high school level, which dropped 62 students. Fifty-two of those are from Arapahoe alone. Littleton lost 27, and Heritage gained seven. The alternative high schools’ enrollment increased by 10 students. The elementary schools lost 28 students overall, with the majority from Highland (24), Field (23), and East (21). Lenski gained 22, and Moody added 21. The middle schools are down 29 students, mostly at Euclid (34). Powell helped make up the difference by gaining 37. The district expected to gain at least a few students at the elementary and middle school levels, and projected it would lose only about 19 high-schoolers. The projections were too high across the board — by 42 at the elementary level, 45 at the middle level and 43 at the high schools. Enrollment in Littleton Public Schools had been on a steady downward trend since a recent high of 16,284 in 2001; in Data continues on Page 9
On the edge of danger in West Africa Two local men travel to Liberia on teaching mission during Ebola outbreak By Christy Steadman csteadman@colorado communitymedia.com
Bob Sutterer and Pete Muckley arrived July 7 at a missionary compound just outside the Liberian capital of Monrovia to teach writing skills to Liberian educators. For the next two weeks, their work overshadowed the fact that the two men were in Liberia during the biggest Ebola outbreaks in the history of the disease. Even though the two men were living in the same compound that housed the hospital where Dr. Kent Brantley and missionary Nancy Writebol — the first two Americans to become sick with and then conquer the Ebola virus — were working, the gravity of the situation didn’t hit until later. “The shock of how dangerous it really was hit us when we got back,” Sutterer said. “Then it set in how close we really were. It was pretty strange to be in such proximity of a disease that is so deadly.” Sutterer, a Centennial resident who teaches English at Castle View High School
ABOUT EBOLA • Ebola is a rare and deadly viral disease that spreads in humans through direct contact with blood and body fluids, such as urine, feces, saliva, vomit and semen. Burial ceremonies in which mourners have direct contact with the body of the deceased person can also play a role in transmission, according to the World Health Organization. • Ebola is affecting the countries of Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, all in West Africa. One in two people who have contracted Ebola during this outbreak have died. • As of Aug. 31, there were 3,707 suspected, probable and confirmed cases of Ebola in West Africa, including 1,841 deaths with Ebola as the suspected cause. • The first outbreak of Ebola in Liberia, which is experiencing the most severe outbreak, occurred in March. The suspected, probable and confirmed case count there is 1,698, and includes 871 deaths with Ebola as the suspected cause. Source: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
in Castle Rock, and Muckley, a director of marketing for a financial services company who lives in Highlands Ranch, traveled to Liberia July 7-18 with Teachers on Mission. The program teaches Liberian educators writing skills to help them earn a teaching licensure.
Bob Sutterer talks with a Liberian educator at the school in the ELWA compound, which also houses the hospital where Dr. Kent Brantley and missionary Nancy Writebol treated Ebola patients. Courtesy photo
Living in Liberia
The compound where Muckley and Sutterer stayed is called ELWA. It is a walled missionary hub on the Atlantic coast that houses the hospital, the school where they worked, a radio station and a chapel. The hospital is about a quarter of a mile from the guesthouse where the two men stayed. Both men described it as old and rudimentary.
The Liberian government designated the ELWA hospital as a receiving and quarantine area for Ebola patients. When the two men arrived, there were two cases of Ebola being treated at the hospital. The number had escalated to 14 by the time they left. Danger continues on Page 9