SCHOOLS

will engage with the community and will hold two community meetings to gain input on what residents would like to see at those locations.

For Zerger, a community meeting will take place in March or April and another in June. e other schools don’t have scheduled meetings yet.

City Councilor Bruce Baker asked if the schools could be turned into charter schools and asked if Je co Public Schools has done outreach to charter schools in order to do so.

“ e reason we had to close schools is because we have too many seats, we had seats for 96,000 students and we serve 68,000. Our objective is not to create more seats for students because it exacerbates our problem of small schools. Adding another school to the district is not a priority,” Relou said.

She said the district is probably not order the child to participate in a collaborative management program. e agency already has worked with about 100 children in four judicial districts in the Denver area through pretrial diversion, a program in which a judge orders a juvenile o ender to complete a rehabilitation program in order to avoid criminal charges. done closing schools, either.

It also would outlaw transferring the criminal cases of 13-year-olds to adult court.

An organization called Fully Liberated Youth is among those that would provide services to kids who come into contact with law enforcement but are too young to face prosecution.

Fully Liberated Youth also has programs in school districts targeting young people who often miss class, get in ghts or are involved in gangs. School sta and authorities can refer students to the program.

If the legislation passes, it likely would send more funding to Fully Liberated Youth and similar programs.

“We’re asking bigger questions about why is this young person engaging in these activities in the rst place, instead of trying to incarcerate our way out of the problem,” said Preston Adams, a co-founder of the program.

A child who is stealing, for example, might need help with food assistance. A child might act out because they need a special learning program in school. Other kids need a mentor on the Fully Liberated Youth team.

“It’s a comprehensive plan for the client and the family to get to the root of the problem,” Adams said. e proposal to get kids into services instead of behind bars is also a way to address the racial bias that exists in the juvenile justice system, said the organization’s other cofounder, Natalie Baddour. Nearly all of the children who participate in the organization’s programs — 98% — are Black and brown, she said. Black youth are overrepresented in Colorado’s judicial system, according to department data.

City Councilor Sarah Nurmela, pointing to the rising age of residents, suggested senior housing or a senior care facility could be proactive about the lack of housing for them.

For Sheridan Green, Mayor Nancy McNally had a host of suggestions from residents who live near the school. One came from a resident who would like to see one side of the tennis courts xed, and the other turned into a pickleball court.

“We heard suggestions about that before the closings ever happened,” McNally said.

Other suggestions included a library, to use the classrooms for intergenerational activities and a preschool. One resident, McNally said, would like to see $1,000 massage chairs and a hot tub placed in the building.

When it comes down to it, Economic Development Director Lindsey Kimball said zoning is the greatest control of the property, which is currently quasi-public use.