FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Families congregated outside the Poudre School District's board meeting on Tuesday, united in an effort to defend their schools.
The protest was a response to the district's announcement of plans to shutter five schools as part of a broader consolidation initiative unveiled Friday.
At the board meeting, the district outlined various scenarios for potential consolidations and closures.
All of the scenarios involve closing Beattie Elementary School, Blevins Middle School and Johnson Elementary School, along with two to three additional schools from a list that includes Linton Elementary, Cache La Poudre Elementary, Putnam Elementary, Boltz Middle School, Cache La Poudre Middle School, Harris Bilingual and Preston Middle School.
People wore t-shirts with their respective school logos and clutched homemade signs, chanting "save our schools.” Among the sea of voices, it was the youngest members of the community, the students themselves, whose pleas rang loudest.
"This is like my home. It's the place I've always been here for since I was 5. So it's very important to me," said Hadley Campbell, a fourth-grader at Johnson Elementary School.
Laura Bartholomew, a Johnson Elementary School parent, emphasized the community's dedication.
"Over Mother's Day weekend, we spent our entire weekend preparing for today," she said. "Our community came together with shirts, posters."
While the district leadership and Board of Education have underscored the necessity of closures, consolidations, and boundary changes to address declining enrollment and budget reductions, some stakeholders felt blindsided by the sudden inclusion of previously untouched schools in the closure list.
"It was a total surprise, and therefore our families in our community haven't had a chance to prepare and advocate for our program," said Liliana Deal, a third-grade teacher at Harris Elementary School. "There is one other bilingual school here. In our district, it's a different model completely. Our model doesn't function that way."
The district said the scenarios were crafted by a volunteer steering committee comprising 37 parents, staff, and community members. They said they would solicit public input through a questionnaire until May 19 before finalizing recommendations to the board.
“No final decisions have been made, and the process is not complete,” the district said in a statement.
However, the sense of urgency among the affected communities was palpable, with more than 50 people voicing their concerns at the public comment session.
"School communities are mobilizing at a frenetic pace to get up to speed on how we got here and what we can do," one commenter said, echoing the sentiments of many who implored the board to slow down and reconsider their consolidation plans.
The board is slated to vote on the plan on June 11.
In an email the district sent out after Tuesday's meeting they provided the community with this timeline:
- The Facilities Planning Steering Committee will not return to the Board for a presentation on May 28. Instead, they will serve as consultants to staff and the school board as needed.
- The questionnaire on proposed scenarios will remain open to the public May 10-19. A summary of the feedback collected in this questionnaire will be provided to staff and the Board of Education for their consideration.
- Poudre School District staff will present board-requested information at the May 28 Board of Education meeting.
- The Board still plans to host multiple listening sessions on June 4 and is still scheduled at this time to vote on potential scenarios on June 11.
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