FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Last week, Poudre School District announced plans to merge or close a number of schools in the district for the 2024-2025 school year.
That news came as a shock for students and teachers who say they had no idea their schools were on the chopping block.
For many kids, school is the last thing on their minds on a weekend. But for Polaris Expeditionary Learning seniors Ethan Wood and Soup Cloud, their Saturday was spent worrying about the future of their facility.
"I felt awful," Cloud said.
"Yeah, we felt betrayed," Wood said. "The faculty of our school felt betrayed, the students felt betrayed that they would just do something like this."
Their school is at risk of being split up after Poudre Superintendent Brian Kingsley announced plans to consolidate a number of schools for the 2024-2025 school year.
Cloud said Polaris is a unique, inclusive learning space - especially for neurodivergent and queer students. They worry moving students to other schools could put them at risk for bullying.
"I'm a queer student myself, I'm nonbinary and I can only imagine if I was not a senior and I was not moving on, I would be terrified of what was going to happen to me in these other schools," Cloud said.
According to Poudre Schools, students attending Polaris Expeditionary Learning would move into either Olander Elementary or Blevins Middle School.
But Polaris wouldn't shut down. Poudre said the district's two alternative education programs at Centennial High School and at Poudre Community Academy would move into that building.
Community Connections and Cooper Home programs for special needs students would then move into Centennial. And Poudre Schools said other transition pathways programs could also move into that same space.
In a note to the district, Superintendent Kingsley told PSD families these changes are needed due to declining enrollment.
But Cloud and Wood aren't buying it.
“We’re one of the top performing schools in their district and I feel like they believe if they sprinkle us around in there, it’s going to grow and be perfect," Cloud said.
"We've been backstabbed by Kingsley and it feels like they gave us short notice so we couldn't fight it," Wood said. "So, we’re doing something Monday and Tuesday to really show them that we care about our Polaris community."
Wood said students are planning a walk-out of Polaris on Monday.
"We are meeting in our parking lot at 12:22 pm and walking to the district building. And we're going to just say you know, we do not agree with this and you need to make some changes to the current plan," he said.
And Tuesday, students are planning to sit in and protest after school until the board meeting that night.
"The power we have right now is to stop this vote from happening," Cloud said. "Because I believe it is next week that this vote will happen and it will be confirmed this is happening and we cannot let that happen. It will be so much more difficult for us to fight if they get this vote through. So our goal is to stop the vote."
They said they understand the district is facing challenges. But, they don't believe their school and students should be split up to fix it.
"It does not feel like a valid reason to rip our community away from us," Wood said.
9NEWS reached out to Poudre Schools for comment. We have yet to hear back.
Superintendent Kingsley said in his note to PSD families that he will share more information about the consolidation plans during their board meeting on Tuesday. He added that even more schools within the district may need to be consolidated and modified moving forward.
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