When parents send their children to school, they expect more than just academics. They expect a safe and healthy environment. Yet across Academy District 20, portable classrooms originally billed as short-term fixes for overcrowding have quietly become permanent homes for entire grade levels.
At one elementary school, an entire grade spends the whole year in a portable building. These units show visible signs of age, uneven maintenance, and hazards that should alarm any parent. And when a district resident tried to get answers, the response was not transparency. It was a multi-thousand-dollar bill for public records the district is legally required to provide.
Inside the Portables: What Parents Aren’t Told
Many Academy District 20 schools depend on portable classrooms to absorb overflow from the main buildings, with some students spending their entire school year in them.
- Many units are decades old, with stained, worn carpeting and outdated infrastructure.
- Community members and former staff report structural foundation issues and suspected mold beneath the flooring, which are serious health red flags.
- Snow and ice removal for portables is often delayed or neglected, leaving metal ramps as slick ice sheets where staff and students have fallen during winter weather.
- Portables lack running water and bathrooms, forcing students to walk outdoors to access restrooms—an inequity in both safety and comfort compared to peers indoors.
- Despite their “temporary” label, these structures have been in continuous use for years, with no visible timeline for removal or replacement.
Health and Safety Risks That Can’t Be Ignored
Radon exposure is a hidden but real danger. Under 6 CCR 1010-6, all Colorado public schools, including portables, must be tested for radon at least once by January 1, 2025, and retested every five years. Results must be shared publicly and with parents and staff upon request. Portables, often set directly on soil without full foundations, are especially vulnerable to radon intrusion. If the district hasn’t tested or is holding results behind steep CORA fees, it could violate state regulations.
Mold exposure can trigger asthma, chronic respiratory illness, and allergic reactions—conditions especially harmful to children.
Structural instability is another concern. In high winds, heavy snow, or even routine use, aging portables can pose serious hazards.
Active shooter vulnerability is heightened in portables. Thin walls, limited exits, and their distance from the main building make them harder to secure and evacuate.
Special education access is another equity gap. Students who need to travel between the portables and main building for services face icy ramps, uneven walkways, and long outdoor distances—barriers that can be physically dangerous and slow emergency evacuation.
Transparency Comes at a Price
When a district resident filed a Colorado Open Records Act request for inspection reports, maintenance logs, and safety evaluations of portable classrooms, the district didn’t simply provide them. Instead, they demanded a multi-thousand-dollar payment, well above typical CORA fee limits.
These excessive cost estimates function as a barrier to public oversight. They raise an uncomfortable question: what exactly does D20 candidate Susan Payne and the rest of the board not want the public to see?
Safety Promises vs. Safety Reality
D20 candidate Susan Payne has built her platform around school safety, particularly focusing on active shooter preparedness.
Yet the most vulnerable learning spaces in the district, the portable classrooms, are absent from her safety agenda. The gap between political talking points and on-the-ground facility safety undermines trust.
Open Enrollment, Closed Eyes
Even as unsafe portable conditions persist, Academy District 20 continues to accept open enrollment students from outside the district. This increases crowding and deepens reliance on portable classrooms.
Open enrollment without investment in safe capacity means more children are placed in substandard facilities, not out of necessity, but by choice.
A Statewide Pattern, a Local Crisis
Across Colorado, “temporary” portables routinely outlive their intended lifespan. Too often, districts direct funds toward administrative projects or charter expansion instead of ensuring that current students learn in safe, equitable environments. Without transparency and investment, portables will continue to be an unseen crisis in school safety.
What Needs to Happen Now
The health and safety of students should never be compromised—and never hidden behind paywalls or political convenience. Academy District 20 parents, educators, and residents should demand:
- Immediate, independent inspections of all district portable classrooms.
- Full release of safety and maintenance records without excessive fees.
- Equitable maintenance standards for all learning spaces, including prompt snow and ice removal for portable ramps and walkways.
- Basic facility equity: running water, bathrooms, and climate control comparable to main buildings.
- Board-level accountability for facilities policy and funding priorities.
- A review of open enrollment policies until safe capacity is guaranteed.
Anything less is not just bad policy, it’s a failure to protect and value every child equally.