Schools
Green Mountain HS Off To Soggy Start With Rain Damage
Rain damage to gym floor means athletic events for gymnastics and volleyball teams at the Lakewood school were cancelled.
LAKEWOOD, CO — Rain damage to Green Mountain High School has damaged classrooms and the library, as well as the gym, where athletic events had to be cancelled.
Principal Colleen Owens told 9NEWS that the rain damage to her aging building exemplifies the problem with some schools in Jefferson County School District.
Over summer vacation, the roof leaked, starting in the library, then into classrooms, and the walls.
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"We had our science hall torn apart. We had classrooms torn apart because of water damage," she told 9NEWS "We've had a rodent problem in the school. We even had a little mouse run through our staff meeting."
The school now has water under the gymnasium floor and had to cancel athletic events for the volleyball and gymnastics teams, the station reported.
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"Yeah and it's the most disturbing part because I don't know how we're going to fix it," Owens told the station.
Aging infrastructure in JeffCo's 156 campuses is one of the reasons the school board voted to put a $567 million capital bond issue on the ballot. The board also voted to put a proposal to override the mill levy to generate another $33 million for ongoing operation funds, including teacher salaries.
Board members said in an Aug. 23rd meeting that the aging facilities in some schools make a JeffCo education different depending on where students attend school. The district wants to update older schools built before 1980, primarily high schools. Green Mountain would get $13 million for capital repairs if voters approve the bond. The last time the district passed a capital bond was in 2004, and two years ago voters shot down a bond issue on the ballot.
For now, Green Mountain teams that use the gymnasium are competing at other JeffCo campuses, such as Columbine High School in Littleton.
Related: On the JeffCo Ballot: 3 Tax-Raising Measures For Schools
Image via Green Mountain High School
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