WEEK OF JANUARY 16, 2025
VOLUME 104 | ISSUE 47
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Scam phone callers use threats of arrest warrants Sheriff’s offices offer tips to identify scam calls that impersonate official agencies BY NINA JOSS NJOSS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
board containing input from other parents at both schools regarding a possible merger. The document highlights the academic differences between the schools, the values of each school community, and the concerns and visions parents have in the event of a merger. “Over the last couple of years, there have been changes to the schools that have moved them towards more collaboration, such as sharing of staff and budget resources,” Jones-Kaplan said. “We also want to acknowledge that the profiles of these schools on paper, while different, do not reflect the fact that they do have much in this school year that is overlapping and that this has led to the sense of loss for many families.” Kapler continued the presentation and explained that though there are two different schools, ultimately both school communities want similar outcomes for their students. “So when we talked about values, even though you see EMS and ELA values, a lot of them really overlap,” Kapler said. “In terms of academics and learning, we heard from ELA parents that they want
In November, Sandy Barber received a phone call from a number she didn’t recognize. When she picked up, a man on the line told her he was an officer with the Arapahoe County Sheriff ’s Office and that there was a warrant out for Barber’s arrest because she didn’t show up for a court hearing. Barber, who had recently received news that a loved one had passed away, was already emotionally distraught and became confused about the caller’s claim. She said she hadn’t received any notification about a court hearing, but the man insisted that they had mailed a summons to her former address. “I just kept saying, ‘I don’t understand,’” Barber said. “And he kept pushing me.” The man told Barber she had to go to the Arapahoe County Sheriff ’s Office, and that she would be arrested once she arrived. He told her not to hang up the phone and not to tell anyone about the situation. Then, he told her she needed to bring $4,500 in cash and he asked her which bank she was going to withdraw the money from. “Finally, I went, ‘I’m not talking to you anymore,’” Barber said. “I said, ‘I’m headed to the sheriff ’s department and I will find out what’s going on. I don’t believe you.’” When the man swore at her after that, she said she knew she had made the right decision. “At that point, I was absolutely convinced it was a scam,” she said. Barber, who lives in Aurora, is one of many victims across the metro region who have been targeted by scammers that pretend to be members of law enforcement agencies and convince people they have a warrant out for their arrest. These scammers will often say the victim missed jury duty or a court date. The scammers also tend to ask victims to pay “fines” or “bonds” in the form of gift cards, prepaid cards or sometimes cash.
SEE SCHOOLS, P14
SEE SCAMS, P16
The Englewood Board of Education discusses the possible merger, separation or continued blending of Englewood Middle School and Englewood Leadership Academy in a Jan. 7 meeting. PHOTO BY ELISABETH SLAY
Englewood School Board mulls study on middle school changes
Panel addresses concerns about sixth-grade classes; town hall set for Jan. 15 BY ELISABETH SLAY ESLAY@COLORADODOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
In its first meeting of 2025, the Englewood Board of Education reviewed and revised an impact study on the possible merger, separation or continued integration of Englewood Middle School and Englewood Leadership Academy, while also addressing concerns about the future of sixth grade. During public comment at the Jan. 7 meeting, many parents expressed concerns or their preferences regarding the fate of ELA and EMS. The board is expected to make its decision during its March 4 meeting. Currently, the two schools are blended as they share a building and a principal at the Englewood Campus at 3800 S. Logan St. State ratings and parents describe ELA as a school with 98 students in sixth to eighth grade that’s “known for its strong
academic programming and personalized attention” that has “consistently achieved the highest ‘performance’ rating on Colorado’s state accountability framework scale” for the last two years. There are 187 students enrolled in the seventh and eighth grades at EMS, which “offers a larger and more diverse educational environment and has faced academic challenges, transitioning from ‘improvement’ to ‘turnaround’ status,” which are the lowest ratings on the state’s accountability framework scale. Misty Leflar, a parent of Englewood students and an educator in the district, said she was in support of closing ELA and merging the schools into one school under the EMS name. She said she felt the division between the schools causes harm to the students, as her experience with her son led her to see a sense of entitlement from ELA students, even though both schools share educators and curriculum. “I didn’t see a difference between the two schools and it was never explained to me the difference,” Leflar said. Two parents, Lauren Jones-Kaplan and Tiffany Kapler, who represent the ELA and EMS School Accountability Committees, presented a document to the
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