Jeffco School Board approves sale of three closed schools

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. — After closing 16 elementary schools at the end of the 2022-2023 school year, the Jefferson County Public Schools board has now decided the fates of three of those vacant buildings. 

In a unanimous vote, the board approved sales that will see Glennon Heights Elementary transformed into a daycare center, Thomson Elementary repurposed as a behavioral health center for autistic students and Vivian Elementary redeveloped into housing.

These decisions follow months of deliberation, during which the district’s Chief Operating Officer Jeff Gatlin fielded proposals from prospective buyers nationwide, including developers eager to tear down the old school structures to make way for new housing. Ultimately, community support helped shape the board’s choices, especially at Glennon Heights, where the plan to convert the elementary school into a daycare won overwhelming approval.

For Jerry O’Nan, a longtime resident of the Lakewood neighborhood surrounding Glennon Heights Elementary, the decision offers a sense of continuity. Having lived a block away for 45 years and sent his children to the school, O’Nan views the building as an integral part of the community’s identity. The school, built 66 years ago, had become a silent landmark since its closure.

“Some of the offerors were looking to put over 100 homes on a seven-acre piece of property,” said O’Nan, who’s a member of the Glennon Heights ad-hoc committee involved in the proposal process. “Those were rejected in the first round. But we seriously believe that this was maybe a bit of divine intervention to get this daycare center in here, which is going to benefit the community.”

With plans to serve infants through six years old, the daycare will restore the presence of young children to the area — a factor O’Nan believes will invigorate the neighborhood. 

“We miss having the kids over here,” O’Nan said. “Seeing them every day when it was an active school… so we are ecstatic about this.”

The unanimous approval from each neighborhood’s ad-hoc committee underscored the desire to see the properties repurposed in ways that would preserve community character, especially given the dwindling enrollment that led to their closures in the first place. 

“Two out of these three are repurpose and reuse… I think it takes a specific type of user that’s going to come in and reuse the facility as is,” Gatlin said.

During the public comment period, only one individual, from the Vivian Elementary area, voiced concerns and requested more time to review the options. Beyond that, there was widespread support for the board’s choices.

The sales will bring in $9 million for the school district. Those funds that will bolster the district in multiple ways.

“Any proceeds from the sale that we get from these buildings are going to go back into our capital reserve fund, which really supports our facilities maintenance and making sure that we’re providing great experiences for our kids,” he said.