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Week of September 8, 2022
JEFFERSON COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
JeffcoTranscript.com
VOLUME 39 | ISSUE 7
Teachers, staff face uncertainty as consolidation decision looms BY RYLEE DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
As the Jefferson County Public School Board mulls Superintendent Tracy Dorland’s recommendation to close 16 elementary schools in the district, 422 full-time staff members — including 188 classroom teachers — face uncertainty about their job prospects within the district after the 2022-2023 school year.
The board will vote on Dorland’s recommendation on Nov. 10. If the recommendation is passed, the 16 schools would close at the conclusion of the 2022-2023 school year. The district is working with its associations — the Jefferson County Educators Association and the Jeffco Education Support Professionals Association — to help staff members navigate employment opportunities.
The district has about 3,600 classroom teachers and currently has 410 job openings — 103 of which are teacher positions; 89 JCEA positions and 14 pre-school positions — but is anticipating an increased staffing need if the consolidation plan comes to fruition, according to Jeffco Public Schools Communications Executive Director Kimberly Eloe. Eloe said that the hiring process for staff members displaced by the
Gender affirming facial surgery to be added to Jefferson County insurance benefits
consolidations will be different for probationary and non-probationary faculty. Non-probationary staff are those in good standing with the district while probationary staff members are those who have not completed the three years needed to complete the induction process for licensure or who have a performance SEE CONSOLIDATE, P4
Former criminal investigator for Jefferson County convicted of sexual assault BY ANDREW FRAIELI AFRAIELI@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
kets like employers with less than 100 employees. This does not include employers like Jefferson County, though. FGAS was added to benefits because it was
Former Westminster police officer and criminal investigator for the First Judicial District Attorney’s Office Wayne Darrell Nelson, 69, has been convicted of three counts of misdemeanor unlawful sexual contact, according to the First Judicial District Attorney’s Office. This is for the sexual assault of two adult women between April 2018 and December 2020. The women were tenants and roommates of Nelson’s. Initially, he had charges from a third woman, another roommate, but that sexual assault charge was dropped, said the DA’s Office. Nelson had turned himself in to
SEE BENIFITS, P5
SEE ASSAULT, P5
Facial gender-affirming surgery will be included in Jefferson County’s employee benefits plan. BY ANDREW FRAIELI AFRAIELI@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Facial gender-affirming surgery is set to be covered in the 2023 county employee benefits plan. The Jefferson County Board of County Com-
missioners passed the resolution approving the benefits Aug. 30. In October of 2021, Colorado announced all health insurers it regulates must cover gender-affirming care by 2023, affecting plans for individuals and small group mar-
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