Jefferson County
Posted inCOVID, Education, Health, News, Politics and Government

Not enough kids are using Colorado’s school COVID testing program for it to work, governor says

by Erica Breunlin and Daniel Ducassi

A coronavirus testing program for schools that Gov. Jared Polis has touted as a way to keep students safe and in class isn’t working as designed because not enough kids are getting swabbed, Polis told The Colorado Sun on Monday. Fewer than 5,000 students — less than 1% of Colorado’s K-12 student population — are […]

Posted inCOVID, Health, News

Security workers called in to protect Jefferson County’s mobile vaccine units

by The Associated Press

GOLDEN — Security workers will accompany nurses and staff members of Jefferson County Public Health’s three mobile vaccine units for the foreseeable future after months of harassment and abuse. Last weekend, the agency was forced to pull vans off the street after a driver in Gilpin County, who contracts Jefferson County’s health agency, drove towards […]

Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns

Opinion: The health risks of fracking justify Adams County’s new regulations

by Harv Teitelbaum

Despite the self-interested pleas and organized letter-writing campaigns of Colorado’s oil and gas industry, Adams County Commissioners voted to enact reasonable restrictions and regulations on fracking and fracking-related activities. Kudos to them for their courage in the face of special-interest pressure, and congratulations to Adams County residents and the rest of us in neighboring counties, […]

Posted inEducation, News

Jeffco Public Schools shelved a $170,000 report on school closures. Four years later, the district faces the same challenges.

by Yesenia Robles, Chalkbeat

When Jeffco leaders saved four out of five schools from closure in 2017, they knew they were just kicking the problem down the road. They said so at the time. They even paid an education consulting firm $170,000 to look at how other districts handle school closures and make recommendations, but the report was shelved and […]

Posted inColoradans, COVID, Education, News, Outdoors

Colorado summer camps are gearing up for a full season of swimming, sightseeing — and sanitizing

by Erica Breunlin and Michael Booth

At Geneva Glen Camp tucked in Indian Hills off of U.S. 285, gone are the days of kids squeezing into the dining hall for shared meals, group chants and breakout songs — at least for last summer and this one. But many of the camp’s other staples are making a comeback: overnights in cabins, outings […]

Posted inCOVID, Education, News

Jeffco Public Schools will bring middle and high school students back to classrooms in late January

by Erica Meltzer, Chalkbeat

Jeffco Public Schools will open its middle and high schools to students starting Jan. 25, just one week after bringing elementary students back to the classroom, the district announced Friday. This is an earlier return for secondary students than district officials had expected in December. They previously said that secondary students would return to buildings when the […]