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ARVADA, Colo. (KDVR) — The sign outside Campbell Elementary School in Arvada still says “Welcome Back,” but some parents are already contemplating leaving. 

“This is the second week of school, so our kids have adjusted. They’ve met their teachers, they’ve dropped off their school supplies, they’ve met their friends, they’re happy, they got a new playground and now we face the question, do we pull them out right now?” a parent, who declined to share her name publicly, said. 

Campbell is one of 16 elementary schools being considered for closure as Jefferson County Schools attempts to deal with declining enrollment. 

If the school board votes in favor of the proposal, all 16 schools will close after the school year ends in 2023. Children currently enrolled in schools being considered for closure would merge into existing schools beginning in the fall of 2023. 

According to the district, consolidating schools will help provide children with better education and better access to programs that smaller schools cannot provide. 

“I’m not opposed to changing schools. There is other schools that I would go to. I think what you do when you shut down so many schools is that then you’re eliminating choice because all these other schools are much more full,” the parent said. 

Parents across the district have voiced concern about the need for their children to ride the bus to schools that are farther away, about losing access to teachers they chose for their children and about classmates being split up. 

“If we could all join hands and all-for-one, one-for-all went together, it probably would feel better,” another Campbell parent, who also declined to share their name publicly, said. 

Campbell is the only one of the 16 schools recommended for closure that the district plans to split up when merging into its new neighborhood school. 

Both parents FOX31 spoke with said they feel like the decision to close Campbell is unfair. 

“I feel like we’re being used to pave the way to the golden gate and we’re just collateral damage at this point,” the second parent said.