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Superintendent reports ICE activity in Thornton area; board hears attendance drops, hiring and steep budget pressures
Summary
Superintendent reported ICE activity near several schools, described a 4–5% attendance drop at some sites, and outlined hiring needs and a potential $30 million budget shortfall driven by declining enrollment, compensation pressures and the end of federal COVID relief funds.
Superintendent provided an update Feb. 5 to the Adams 12 Five Star Schools board saying ice-related immigration enforcement activity occurred in parts of the district and that the district was responding with communications, school-level coordination and supports for affected families.
He said Hillcrest Elementary, STEM Launch and Federal Heights Elementary were the three schools most affected by the events described that day. The superintendent said district staff believe a parent of a second-grade student at Hillcrest may have been taken into custody and that, to the district’s knowledge, the child was in the care of a neighbor or a trusted adult. He emphasized the district’s understanding that families are fearful and that student attendance has fallen in some schools by about 4 to 5 percent.
The superintendent said Adams County Sheriff’s Office leaders told district officials they are not planning to join ICE immigration enforcement and will be present on campuses only to address law-enforcement matters such as drugs, weapons or other criminal activity. The sheriff’s office, the superintendent said, had been asked to support street and traffic control at a prior enforcement action but not to enter the building.
On staffing, the superintendent said the district is actively recruiting for senior roles including chief human resources officer and filling other key positions tied to elementary and high-school leadership. He announced an internal promotion to elementary executive director and said bond-related construction, maintenance and business services hiring is ongoing.
On the budget, the superintendent described a complex picture: the district faces uncertainty over potential state changes to enrollment funding (including the possibility of eliminating multi-year enrollment averaging), compensation gaps compared with peer districts, and the end of federal ESSER COVID-era funding. He said one-year budget choices and prior fund-balance spending — including roughly $9.9 million used to continue intervention and mental-health supports this year — have left the district considering combinations of expenditures and revenue solutions that could amount to a roughly $30 million “puzzle” to address through cuts, compensation changes, or new revenue.
He told the board the district may ask the community to contact legislators depending on how state funding decisions unfold in coming weeks.
Board members thanked staff for on-the-ground work and emphasized counselors’ roles in the current climate; several directors asked the district to continue outreach encouraging families to send children to school and to provide alternative education supports when attendance is not possible.
