On Tuesday, January 14th it was announced that Jenkins Middle School would be closing for the remainder of the year due to the instability of the building. This was announced through a joint statement from the Colorado Springs Fire Department and the Colorado Springs School District 11, along with the related Fire Safety Inspection report of the Jenkins building. In this report, damage to the building including cracking in the walls and improper fire/safety doors were observed in different areas of the building.  

Report Overview 

The official structural and fire report of Jenkins Middle School was released on January 31st, 2025. This 32-page report details findings that led to the final decision to temporarily move Jenkins staff and students. Built in 1998 on a hill, Jenkins began having structural issues shortly after its opening in 1999. The layout of Jenkins is split into six different areas labeled A-F. Of these areas; C, E, and F were all deemed unsafe, as well as some parts of area B. Issues found within these occupiable areas included: 

• Cracking within the walls: below and above with gaps being found in spots that transition from CMU walls into above-ceiling drywall. 
• Gaps in the tops, sides, and bottoms of fire-rated doors, as well as many of the doors having been cut to fit frames or modified. Some latches were broken, and some doors were missing gaskets to restrict smoke. 
• Firestopping penetration seals were out of place or missing. 

THE INVASION OF THE JAGS 

With the closing of the building being official, the decision was made to move students attending Jenkins to Russell Middle School and Doherty High School. Middle schoolers in a high school? Well alright, but many parents didn’t agree with that decision; one parent in an interview with KKTV stated, “It was just crazy. My blood is boiling. I’m just not sure what is going on here. I’m looking for some answers.” But the decision was final, and Doherty, Russell, and Jenkins students got a five-day weekend to prepare for the invasion of the Jenkin Jags.  

Many teachers and students weren’t happy with this decision either. Luke Burns, a junior at Doherty stated, “When I first heard it I got really nervous, we may be a big school, but we’re not big enough to hold a whole other school. I was also pretty upset with the school board for letting the issue get this bad and for disrupting both Doherty and Jenkins’ learning. 

“I had no idea where we were gonna fit the kids and what that was gonna do to my schedule,” another junior, Luka Halford shared, “I was worried because our school is already packed like sardines, “How are we gonna add another 500?’” 

The plan was for Jenkins to move into the upstairs, aka the Doherty math and english wings.  Doherty math teacher Susan Heine stated, “It was…it was like a surprise, but not a surprise. We knew it would be the math hall because it’s bigger.” 

With Jenkins moving in and back to learning, the question still stands, what happens now? On Wednesday, February 6th 2025, the school board approved $750,000 dollars for the first phase of restructuring the Jenkins building. This work will start with evaluations in the damaged sections of the building to determine what the best approach to take will be to ensure Jenkins stays in one piece in the future. D11 announced on the 7th of February that Bryan Construction would be taking on the job of these renovations and will be starting as soon as possible with the design phase.  

As sudden as these changes feel, D11 has been walking the road to reach the consequences of their neglect for a very long time. It isn’t yet clear when Jenkins will be in their own school again, but for now, baby steps are being taken to undo the wrongs. Only time will tell from here.