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Program For Pregnant Teenagers To Be Phased Out

By Melissa Garcia

BOULDER, Colo. (CBS4) - The Boulder Valley School District plans to phase out its teen parent program due to lack of enrollment.

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Enrollment this semester is down to one student. Current enrollment for next school year is at zero.

One-year-old Brittani comes to Arapahoe Ridge High School for the Boulder Valley Teen Parent Program a couple of hours each school day.

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Brittani's mom, Yareli Delgado, became a parent at age 16.

After graduation in the spring, she'll head to college; a dream that may not have been within reach were it not for the support of the teen parent program.

She said the early child curriculum gives her the time she needs to study.

Delgado is the last student, however, to go through the program.

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Boulder Valley School District plans to turn the current, largely unused center this semester, into a child care facility beginning next school year -- something the program's community advisory board disagrees with.

"By totally eliminating it outright, it's placing this population at great risk," said Pam Malzbender, a long time board member.

She has proposed that the district maintain the program on a smaller scale, citing the teenage parent graduation rate increase from 20 percent to 90 percent in the last decade.

"We are eliminating cycles of poverty, cycles of violence," Malzbender told CBS4's Melissa Garcia.

According to the latest state statistics, Colorado's teen birth rate has shrunk a whopping 69 percent since 1991.

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Fewer teen births have led to fewer kids in the teen parent program.

"By transitioning it, it allows us to ensure that the space is utilized well," said Randy Barber, spokesperson for the Boulder Valley School District.

Malzbender argued that the need for teen parent services in the area was still present and that rates could soon rise. She said at least two pregnant teen mom were interested in enrolling in the program next year.

Barber said that the change will not eliminate the district's support for teen parents. The new use for the facility will also serve the community at large, he said.

"Child care in the Boulder area is difficult to get," Barber said. And so utilizing this area I think would be a benefit to our employees.

The transition will displace three of the six employees who work in the high school's teen parent department. Boulder Valley is looking to relocate them to other positions within the district.

Melissa Garcia has been reporting for CBS4 News since March 2014. Find her bio here, follow her on Twitter @MelissaGarciaTV, or send your story idea to mkgarcia@cbs.com.

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