Fort Collins Coloradoan from Fort Collins, Colorado • Page 1

THE FORECAST Partly cloudy High today: 33 Low tonight: 14 25- MORE PAGE B12 OAN WEDNESDAY JANUARY 12, 2011 oloradoan.com FORT COLLINS I 71 Shelter beds I Lambkins sweep Lobos Both Fort Collins basketball teams beat rival Rocky Mountain in Tuesday's doubleheader. SPORTS PAGE A1 2 1 filling up New emergency shelter keeps as many as eight people from the cold every night. LOCAL PAGE A3 v. "ITT 1,1 mum 7 is mm Uli 'AIi ill I II CHANGE OF COMMAND New officials take reigns Students would attend either Lopez, Johnson under plan In Your Voice Join the conversation at www. coloradoan.comforums.

Smith gets running start at job as sheriff BY LINDSEY LARSON LindseyLarson coloradoan. com Poudre School District Superintendent Jerry Wilson recommended Tuesday night that Beattie Elementary be closed. Students attending the school would be sent to Johnson and Lopez elemen-taries if the school board approves the plan. Wilson gave his recommendation Tuesday night as part of the district's study of underutilized schools. Last On the Internet Visit the Poudre School District website at www.psdschools.org to find the full recommendation for the closure and consolidation of Beattie Elementary.

frjlf fall, PSD asked five schools to develop school closure plans; other schools were asked to prepare innovation consolidation ft t-Aril i mi mi 'Ik 1 jt rmi mtm 1 WILSON i i BY KEVIN DUGGAN KevinDuggancoloradoan.com More than two months after the election that put him in office, Justin Smith finished running for Larimer County sheriff on Tuesday. Smith took the oath of office at the Larimer County Courthouse Offices Building in Fort Collins along with four other officials elected in November. But he took a different route than the others. Smith led a group of runners through frozen streets from the sheriffs administration building to the courthouse and the swearing-in ceremony. The group numbered about 18 when it left the administration building in sub-zero temperatures.

The runners included members of the sheriffs department as well as representatives of other emergency services agencies. The entourage picked up about a dozen more runners at the Oval at CSU and north on Howes Street. The group was escorted by sheriffs vehicles as it worked its way across the city. The runners arrived at the courthouse offices building at 7:45 a.m. and were greeted by members of the Sheriffs Posse, including two on horses.

Clouds of steam came from See SHERIFFPage A2 that the majority of listed cons could be mitigated." "That indicated that they already decided, to close (Beattie)," Runge said. The community will have three opportunities to voice opinions about the recommendation with meetings held at Beattie and Jan. 20 at Lopez, as well as an online survey that will be conducted Friday through Jan. 20. The final vote on all the closureconsolidation and innovations and efficiencies plans developed by 16 PSD schools will be made by the school board at its Jan.

25 meeting. The parents of Beattie are looking forward to meeting with the school board at the Jan. 18 meeting to voice their concerns in a more direct way, Runge said. "I think we have a very good case to present to keep our school open," he said. In the recommendation summary, the district administration said Beattie students will still receive high-quality education at both Lopez and Johnson, which are comparable schools in terms of academic achievement.

Also, the summary stated educational programs, such as early childhood, will be well maintained at one of the other schools. As far as relocating faculty See PSDPage A2 plans. A total of 16 schools were included in the study. After studying the plans, Wilson told the board that he, along with assistant superintendents Kevin Hahn and Manny Ortega, recommended closing Beattie Elementary School and consolidating the students and faculty into Lopez and Johnson elementaries. Wilson said the increasing scarcity of resources affects smaller schools the most, and pressures on the district budget led to the administration's recommendation.

"Conclusions were not predetermined," Wilson said. "(This process) has been extremely challenging and difficult work for everyone involved." Other schools considered for closure were Putnam, Lopez and Irish elementaries and Lincoln Middle School. Jon Runge, a parent with students at Beattie, said he was not surprised at the recommendation due to a note in Beattie's procon list for possible closure that stated, "(The) general impression is Justin Smith photos by V. Richard HaroThe Coloradoan; John Hickenlooper photos by Ed AndrieskiThe Associated Press Larimer County Sheriff's employees, above, jog Tuesday with Sheriff-elect Justin Smith through the CSU Oval on their way for the swearing-in ceremony at the Larimer County Courthouse building. At top left, Smith takes the oath of office as Larimer County Sheriff.

At top right, Colorado Chief Justice Michael Bender administers the oath of office to Gov. John Hickenlooper at the Capitol in Denver. Below, Hickenlooper gives his inaugural address. PageA2 Jim Alderden logs final day as sheriff Hickenlooper pledges to work on economy I film mm Hundreds gather for frigid ceremony r. fti 11 BY STEVEN K.

PAULSON AND KRISTEN WY ATT The Associated Press he'll immediately go to work on jobs and the economy. Hickenlooper promised hundreds of people shivering in temperatures that hovered around 10 degrees that restoring the See HICKPage A2 DENVER Democrat John Hickenlooper became Colorado's 42nd View a gallery of photos from the sheriff's run and swearing-in ceremony at www.coloradoan.com. jfl governor iuesaay witn a WM simple mts.sn?e delivered PEOPLE to try new "DIGITAL" Technology in Hearing Aids i Don't miss your chance to try this new digital technology. Those interested must call TODAY to determine whether they are a candidate. Space is limited.

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