This story was originally produced by Colorado Community Media.
“This is my home. This is my community. Why do I have to leave?” Gloria Rubio’s son asked her when he learned Jefferson Jr./Sr. High School might close. He didn’t understand why the school that had shaped him and his friends, where he felt safe and supported, could be taken away.
He emptied his piggy bank and asked his mom to buy three bags of halos. He planned to hand them out at the meeting, wanting everyone to wear one in solidarity. He made signs that read, “Once a Saint, Always a Saint” and “We Are the Home of the Saints.” He even made a special one for a younger child in Edgewater that read, “I Want to Be a Saint.”
“He told me, “Mom, I want them to see what they’re destroying.”” Rubio said, her voice breaking in an interview before a recent community engagement meeting hosted by Jeffco Public Schools at Jefferson Jr./Sr. High School.
In early February, due to declining enrollment and a structure the district claims is “not sustainable long term,” it proposed a draft plan to close the 7-12 junior/senior program at Jefferson at the end of the 2025-2026 school year, sending sixth- through eighth-graders to Everitt Middle School and ninth- through 12th-graders to Wheat Ridge High School.
The plan proposed two options for the school’s eventual reopening in 2027. Option A would allow students to enroll in a home high school for their core classes and choice-enroll in a part-time program at a career and technical education campus.
Option B is an academy model, in which students choose to enroll in a full-time career-focused school. Students would take all their classes at that facility, but transportation would not be provided.
The district’s chief of staff, Lisa Relou, and other administration officials emphasized that the district has not made any final decisions about future programming at the school and that they came prepared to listen to the community’s input.
“We want you, the community, to tell us what are some of the programs you’d like to see,” said an independent facilitator hired by the district. “What is most interesting to you? What gets the students in here excited? We have some thoughts, but also want to hear from you as the night goes on.”
Instead, district officials faced an emotional crowd demanding answers, as frustrated parents and students repeatedly asked why their school was being targeted and whether their voices would matter in the final decision.
“We were presented with option one or two; where’s our options?” asked Ross Burns as he took the microphone. “That should be option one. And I think that if we come together as a community, I bet you we could problem-solve a great school that honors the history of this community, that honors the roots of this community and that honors the diversity of this community.
“Has your voice been heard?” Burns shouted, to resounding shouts of no.
Why Jefferson?
Delia Pacheco, a parent at Jefferson, said in an earlier interview that she believed this decision was just the latest example of Jefferson being left behind while other schools thrived.
“They’ve put money into fixing up the building, but they haven’t helped our kids,” Pacheco said. “They keep switching principals. One comes in, lasts a year or two, then leaves. The kids never get a chance to build a real connection with their leadership.”
Another parent expressed similar frustration.
“They are overloading, dilapidated, broken-down schools and revamping other schools. Just invest in the schools you have. Keep them open, keep your students where they want to learn, and let them flourish. Invest in them, help them be the future we all want to see.”
Others expressed doubt the district would keep its promise to reopen the school once shutting down at the end of the 2025 school year.
“We worry that once Jefferson is closed, it won’t reopen,” a parent said as she took the microphone. “We worry that budget concerns will be cited, that Jefferson will be left as an empty building, while delays pile up until finally the district declares that it simply doesn’t have enough money to reopen at all.”
Why now?
Parents questioned whether the district timed this decision strategically, knowing many Hispanic families wouldn’t push back.
“Parents are scared,” Pacheco said. “I tried to get them to come to the meeting, but they were afraid to leave their homes. They don’t want to be seen. They don’t want to speak out. They don’t want to risk attention from authorities.”
She paused, then added, “The district knows this. They know they can do whatever they want to us, and most families won’t fight back because they’re too scared. It’s not fair.
“I’m here because I don’t want my kid to be scared,” Pacheco continued. “I want him to see me and learn how to defend and speak up for his community.”
De Luca also expressed that now is a tough time for Hispanic families, and the district should understand their challenges.
“You all have to think that there’s a lot of Latin parents here that are afraid to move to another place. They’re afraid for their kids,” De Luca said. “They feel safe here. They feel that they belong.
Why them?
For the families and students gathered at the community meeting, the fight over Jefferson’s future isn’t just about where they can get the best education. It’s about identity and belonging.
Nearly 90% of Jefferson Jr./Sr. High School students are Hispanic, compared with just under 29% of Wheat Ridge High School students.
“A lot of us are minorities,” a 12th-grade student said in a breakout session. “If they go to Wheat Ridge, for example, there’s a very different demographic. If there’s racism here, it can be solved quickly because we have each other. They’re not going to get that priority. It’s going to be like, “Well, too bad, suck it up.” So I’m worried about those kids that will not get the community that we have.”
Other students shared how the support at Jefferson had changed their lives.
“A lot of us are in poverty,” another student said. “We’re not going to get the same priority in another school. We are not going to get the same amount of help, even if we do integrate into those communities.”
A shy teenager spoke confidently when he said, “Tonight is probably one of the most emotional times I could say because there’s no school like this one. I had the opportunity to change with what other people would say is a better school, but a school with more programs, or a school that can give me a better future. But truly, what I needed was a community, a community that could help me grow as a person.”
As the meeting ended, emotions remained high and frustrations unresolved. Parents and students pressed district officials for clear commitments on Jefferson’s future.
Relou acknowledged the overwhelming opposition to the closure.
“I heard loud and clear that you guys do not want this school to close, that you want it to stay as is, that you want students to continue to be in this program,” she said.
She urged families to continue participating in the conversation, assuring them that their voices mattered.
“We want you to come out. We want you to be part of this conversation. We are listening. I know sometimes it doesn’t feel that way, but we are.
“This school feels like a family,” Relou added. “We are trying to get ahead of what we see happening in terms of the trends and have a literal conversation about what we can do about that together.”
District officials say they will continue to gather input at the next community meeting, which is scheduled for March 3, 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Jefferson Jr./Sr. High School.
The school’s future may be unclear, but one thing isn’t.
For the families at Jefferson, the fight isn’t over.
This story was made available via the Colorado News Collaborative. Learn more at https://colabnews.co
