Dilpreet Jammu, a member of the Long Range Planning Committee, said the community gatherings to discuss possible Douglas County School District feeder plans in Parker, are a “work in progress.”

The committee reports to the board of education and examines population trends to determine the impact on education and on the education support facilities.

Jammu said that because of the recent failure of the 2008 bond election, there is not money to build new schools, even though the district is growing at a rate of 1,500 students a year.

“When we examined the data, we recognized that the Legend High School feeder and Ponderosa High School feeder were feeling capacity issues in the elementary schools, but had space in the middle schools,” Jammu said. He said that by changing the school configuration from the current kindergarten through sixth-grade to a kindergarten through fifth-grade overcrowding could be reduced, and make better use of current facilities. It could also offer sixth-grade students more educational options.

At two community meetings to discuss these options, Jammu said that three out of four Ponderosa High School parents favored the new configuration.

Initial concerns from parents centered on having sixth-graders riding on a bus with middle and high school students.

“The good news is that this change in the configuration already exists at Rocky Heights Middle School in Douglas County,” Jammu said. “And our neighbors in Cherry Creek, Littleton and Boulder school districts are all doing this.”

Jammu said Douglas County would have a large ‘experience pool’ to draw from, to make sure the the students get the best experience.

Jammu added that parents in the Ponderosa feeder liked the fact that once the congestion is reduced in the elementary schools, there may be the option of removing some of the schools away from 4-track, and return to a traditional calendar.

“Needless to say, they do not like the fact that we keep changing our calendars,” Jammu said.

Parents also expressed to the committee that a big plus would be to offer sixth-graders an expanded curriculum with more options like intramural sports, music, language and school council.

Susan Meek, acting communications director for the Douglas County School District, said there are no more community meetings scheduled related to the grade configuration changes in Parker. The district will be presenting the concept and feedback to the board of education at the Oct. 20 meeting.

“Change is inevitable during growth,” Jammu said. “The board of education has four seats open this election, and whoever fills these seats, will have a big say in what happens next.”