Lakewood, Colo. -- Closing a neighborhood school is always a tough and emotional decision. But parents in Lakewood are outraged over an option the Jefferson County School District is discussing -- putting seventh- and eights-grade students in the same facility as high school students.

"It should not even be an option," said Deborah Caruana, a parent of a seventh-grader. "They should keep these kids separate from the high-schoolers."

Closing O'Connell Middle School and moving the seventh- and eighth-graders to Alameda High School is just one of 45 options the district is looking at to save money. The 45 options were decided upon by a Facilities and Usage Committee (FUC). Over 30 community and district volunteers were chosen to serve on the FUC, to help the district determine the most effecient use of its buildings.

"These are hard conversations," said Cindy Stevenson, Superintendent of Jefferson County Schools.

The purpose of the FUC is to look at ways to reduce costs and identify efficiencies. The committee has analyzed data and explored many options for the past eight months.

Stevenson said many of the elementary schools are overcrowded while middle schools, such as O'Connell Middle School are just barely over 50 percent capacity.

"So one of the big ideas was what if we move sixth-graders to middle school our elementary schools become less crowded and we eliminate what we call temporary classrooms," said Stevenson.

Stevenson part of the problem is that a few middle schools are too full to take the sixth-graders, so grades six-eight could not be done across the board.

"These kids will lose opportunities," said Pati Montgomery, O'Connell Middle School principal.

Montgomery said she believes the students could fall through the cracks if O'Connell is closed and the students are forced to attend Alameda High School which would turn into a seventh through 12th-grade school.

"In order to choose another school our parents would have to provide transportation and not all of our parents have the ability to provide transportation," said Montgomery.

Caruana said if O'Connell is closed and the students must go to Alameda High School she will drive her daughter to another school. She said the difference between 12-year-olds and 17-year-olds is too extreme.

"It is the Grand Canyon and a pothole," said Caruana. "These kids need time to establish themselves as teenagers. They are not even teenagers yet, they are just kids."

The district wants to be clear that making Alameda High School a seventh- through 12th-grade curriculum is only one of 45 options. Stevenson said no final decision has been made.

The first of four public hearings is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 11, at Alameda High School from 6-7:30 p.m.. The second meeting is on Saturday Nov., at Manning School Auditorium. The third is Monday Nov. 16, at Summit Ridge Middle School. The fourth is Wednesday Nov. 18, at Pomona High School.

Besides attending a public forum, the community can provide feedback in the following ways:

E-mail: facilities@jeffco.k12.co.us

Letters: addressed to Communications Services, 1829 Denver West Drive, Golden, CO 80401

Phone calls: 303-982-6837

Web site feedback: www.jeffcopublicschools.org