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SENTINEL EXPRESS C O M M E R C E

VOLUME 35 32

C I T Y

50cI

08 ISSUE SSUE 48

EEK OF EBRUARY 24, 23, 2023 TW UESDAY , NFOVEMBER 2020

New COVID-19 restrictions will prohibit indoor dining, personal gatherings

Rethinking the four-day school week

allowing the district to adopt a Study finds 27J schedule than four-day school week, a new study change hurt housing market, suggests. Preliminary results of the study, which has not yet been peer reacademics in the district viewed, suggest that home prices BY YESENIA ROBLES SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA

Homeowners in the 27J school district might have been better off paying a higher property tax rather

suffered and student achievement in the district may have dropped. Teacher retention, which the district cited as the main reason for moving to the four-day school week, may also have decreased, according to the study.

The 27J school district, which serves more than 22,600 students this year, is based north of Denver, covering Brighton and parts of Commerce City and Thornton. Leaders rolled out the four-day school week in the fall of 2018, after having failed a sixth time to pass a local tax increase to pay teachers more. District Superintendent Chris Fiedler disputes the findings, citing higher-than-ever graduation rates and lower overall teacher turnover.

The authors of the study acknowledge there were limitations in the way they examined student achievement and teacher retention pieces. They didn’t want to look at years affected by COVID, so they only examined student achievement data through the 2019-20 school year. For teacher retention data they examined data through the 202021 school year. So it’s possible the SEE RETHINKING, P3

Adams 14 to consolidate schools Split vote merges two schools, moves one high school BY STEVE SMITH SSMITH@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

A long line of cars outside the city of Brighton’s rapid testing site at Riverdale Regional Park. The site has had to close early many days in recent weeks due to high demand. Adams County’s 14-day test positivity rate was 15.9 percent, as of Nov. 17, according to Tri-County Health Department. Brighton and Commerce City’s test positivity rates were both higher than 13 percent. Forty-five people in Brighton and 29 in Commerce City have died from COVID-19 related health issues. To limit the spread of COVID-19, at least 15 counties moved to tighter restrictions that prohibits indoor and personal gatherings.

By Ellis Arnold Colorado Community Media

As Denver metro counties continue to inch closer to local stay-at-home orders under Colorado’s system of coronavirusrelated restrictions, the state announced a new level of rules that prohibits indoor dining and personal gatherings — a change that applies to the majority of the Denver metro area and many counties in other regions. The state’s COVID-19 dial, which has Photo by Belen Ward been in effect since the set Adams City’s Levi Deaguero begins his state championship celebration after winning the 165-pound match overSeptember, Pomona’s is Dante of different levels of restrictions that PHOTO BY STEVEeach SMITH Hutchings Feb. 18 at Ball Arena. See story on Page 11.

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•27J Schools movesconsiders • Council • Vestas to lay off 200 online-only Dec.virtual 1 making meetings employees standard

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The Adams 14 School District board of education voted Feb. 14 to consolidate two schools and move Lester Arnold High School due to declining enrollment The vote was 3-2. The decision means Hanson county is required to follow based and on the Monaco schools severity ofelementary a county’s local viruswill spread. merge and be located at the Monaco The dial7631 grew Monaco out of the St. state’s safer-atfacility, In addition, home order — the policy that students came after Lester Arnold High School the statewide stay-at-home this will move into the formerorder Hanson building, E. 73rd Ave. Th e deadspring and7133 allowed numerous types of line for these moves is August. businesses to reopen. A press statement said the decistate recently switched to color sionThe also means construction of new identifiers — levels blue, yellow and classrooms in the Hanson building orange — to to makerather roomthan for numbered the Healthlevels Professions and Human Services Academy avoid confusion. Until Nov. 17, level red atmeant Adams City High School. a stay-at-home order. Now, level It’s not clear if the decision is relatred — “severe risk” — is the between seconded to the ongoing dispute SEE CONSOLIDATE, P3

Please see RESTRICTIONS, Page 2