Colorado school districts ban field trips to Rocky Flats

DENVER – Colorado’s largest school district has banned students from taking school-sanctioned field trips to Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge, the former nuclear weapons manufacturing site.

The Denver Public Schools board on Thursday brought forward a resolution forbidding its nearly 100,000 students from taking trips to the site — which sits 16 miles northwest of Denver — saying it is too much of a risk for visiting schoolchildren.

Boulder Valley School District and St. Vrain Valley School District passed similar resolutions last year, while superintendents at Adams 12 Five Star, Adams 14, Westminster Public Schools and Jefferson County Public Schools have issued directives forbidding field trips to Rocky Flats.

The refuge is scheduled to open to the public this summer, although no firm date has been announced.