Board of Boulder Valley School District approves plan to close some schools and consolidate others

The Boulder Valley School District's Board of Education on Tuesday approved a plan to close some schools and consolidate others. The plan that adopts the following changes passed with a 5-2 vote:

- Douglass Elementary School (Boulder) will close.
- The Community Montessori building in Boulder will close and the program will be moved to the current High Peaks location.
- High Peaks (Boulder) will be moved to the Douglass building.
- Mesa Elementary School (Boulder) will be closed and it will merge with Bear Creek Elementary School.
- Flatirons Elementary School (Boulder) will close and its attendance will be divided between Whittier and Foothills schools.
- In Louisville and Superior, Monarch K-8 will transition to a middle school and Eldorado K-8 will transition to an elementary school.
- Birch Elementary School (Broomfield) will close and merge its students with Kohl Elementary School.

The district is making the moves in response to declining enrollment, which they say is hurting resources across schools.

Tuesday's meeting included a public comment period and some amendments to the plan were introduced but ultimately voted down.

Some district parents pushed back against the plan when it was announced earlier this year. Many protested the decision to close Douglass Elementary School and relocate students to either Coal Creek, Eisenhower or Heatherwood elementary schools.

Some parents shared concerns about how the plan could negatively impact their children, and while Superintendent Rob Anderson said he empathizes with families, he said tough decisions had to be made.

"Declining enrollment is a real challenge here in Colorado. We're not the first school district that you all will be covering over the next several months, having a very similar challenge. That doesn't make it easy for any community," he said.

When asked his response to parent's frustration with the timing of the consolidation plan, Anderson said, "We started this conversation several years ago. In January, we sent out emails and newsletters to all of our parents. That doesn't make this any easier for those families, and we want to make sure that we're doing everything we can to support them during this time."

The parents say the district's plan is insufficient and they are pushing for a longer term plan. The board has mentioned in past meetings that down the line more cuts may have to come, but say this plan looks to address concerns for the next five years.

Leith Stevens is a parent of a student who attends Flatirons Elementary School, another school that will be closing. He brought a petition from more than 5,000 others in the district to the school board opposing the closure.

"This is not good for our children," Stevens said. "We need something better that takes into account special needs education, that takes into account after school care."

Officials from the school district say their plan comes after months of public outreach.

Moving forward, many parents said they still have questions and expressed concern for what their children's classroom experience will look like next year.

"How do we trust again? How do we make choices for our kids that we'd already made that are going to be best for them? How do we make sure they are not one of those negative outcomes of closures, and then how do we drive our engagement here into a place where we can affect change," Flatirons parent JC Longbottom said. 

Affected students are expected to have priority enrollment into new schools this fall, as the district finalizes plans for dual language programs, preschools and bus routes.