Northern Colorado school board votes to keep Blevins Middle School open for at least 5 years

The Poudre School Board in Northern Colorado has voted to keep Blevins Middle School open for at least five years. This comes after the board voted last month to close the middle school along with three others and merge two others amid declining enrollment. 

In a 4-3 vote on Thursday night, the board voted to keep Blevins open. The school will also receive $250,000 for marketing and staffing needs. 

Last month, the board approved four schools for closure: Blevins Middle School, Beattie Elementary School, Johnson Elementary School and Putnam Elementary School. Centennial and Poudre Community Academy were approved for consolidation. Those closures had been under consideration since the district made the announcement in September. 

The three mountain schools initially up for consideration, Livermore, Stove Prairie and Red Feather Lakes elementary schools, were spared from closure during last month's vote. Families were concerned about the fate of those schools, saying longer bus rides could make public education less accessible for their children.

One member came forward earlier this month, saying that she inadvertently voted the wrong way on closing Blevins Middle School. 

"I sent an email to the board president on Oct 27th, that night at 2 a.m. saying, 'I messed up my vote. I sent an e-mail to our counsel at 8:58 the following morning to say I messed up my vote," said Dr. Coronda Ziegler, director of the Poudre School Board. 

That's when Ziegler introduced an amendment to save Blevins, which was the subject of Thursday night's vote. 

The changes for the other school closures will take effect for the 2027-2028 school year.