Reuse & Recycle: Jefferson County Public Schools

Overview

In 2017 The Jefferson County Public School District manages 154 schools spread across nearly 800 square miles. The district includes heavily developed areas just a couple of miles from downtown Denver, and stretches to remote rural townships in the mountains.

In 2015 Jeffco Public Schools replaced some 15,000 pieces of furniture at sixteen elementary schools across the county. 90% were student desks and chairs; the balance were mostly classroom tables, and there were hundreds of miscellaneous pieces as well. Projects ranged from as few as 160 to as many as 1,600 pieces per school. Replacements were scheduled from late May through mid-August.

The old furniture was nearly 100% in usable condition. Jeffco Public Schools asked Meteor, as a major supplier to the district, to help find a better option than throwing the old furniture away, with the proviso that the solution must cost no more than landfill disposal. Consistent with Meteor’s commitment to be a full-range service provider, and with IRN as a partner, Meteor accepted this challenge.

By the Numbers

Implementation

On this project, making the right match with the right recipients on a rigid schedule was the most serious challenge. School furnishings are in high demand among IRN’s international charitable partners. But Denver is 1,000 miles from the nearest port, and the cost of overland shipping was prohibitive. As much as possible, the furniture needed to be placed nearby.

IRN tapped regional charter schools as potential recipients. Charter schools are public schools but operate with independent budgets and funding. As such, they search for the least-cost solutions to secure furnishings and other supplies. There was a logical match with the used furnishings coming from Jeffco Public Schools.

Destination School	Number of Pieces
American Preparatory Academy, Utah	853
Global Village Academies (Multiple), Colorado	5,447
Life of Relief, AZ Cultural Academy, Arizona	640
Life For Relief, Ashdod, Israel	3,970
Life For Relief, MAS Institute, Michigan	701
Orphan Grain Train, Nebraska	842
Westgate Community Charter School, Colorado	693
Westside Charter School, Colorado	80
World Compass Charter School, Colorado	807
World Impact Academy, Colorado	887

In fact, Jeffco Public Schools had offered furniture to Colorado charter schools, but with no success. The district did not have the experience or resources to reach out to engage and assist the charters. And the charters did not have the experience or resources to manage the evaluation, selection, scheduling, handling, and transportation of truckloads of furniture. IRN bridged the gap.

IRN assembled a schedule and inventory for each school. We identified a local trucker who could supply trailers and transportation. We prepared an offering package explaining the project in detail, with photographs of the furnishings. We reached out to the Colorado League of Charter Schools, and through them to the charter community. As schools responded, we helped them identify the Jeffco school(s) with the inventory best suited to their needs, then set up a loading and transportation schedule to get the furnishings to them. If a charter could not receive an inventory on the date it became available, we arranged short-term storage. We tracked each trailer of furniture from the time it was loaded to its final destination.