A K-8 school in rural Jefferson County, Colorado, that will close later this year will be replaced on the campus with a charter school.
Chalkbeat Colorado reports that the Jefferson County school board has approved a plan for Jefferson Academy, a charter network, to open a preK-8 school in 2024-25 in the facility that now houses Coal Creek Canyon K-8.
The charter school will be named Jefferson Academy Coal Creek Canyon. It will be designed as significantly smaller than the charter network's existing schools.
The board's decision means that families in Coal Creek Canyon, a small community near the Boulder school district boundary, will continue to have a public school nearby.
The Jefferson County school board voted in October to close Coal Creek Canyon K-8. With fewer than 100 students, the school was no longer sustainable, the district said.
The district also noted that it may be more feasible for a charter school to operate in that location with relatively few students.
The charter network has submitted 95 intent-to-enroll forms for its proposed school. That would mark an enrollment increase from the district-run school’s 2023-24 student count.
