Boulder Valley school board votes to close four elementary schools amid calls to delay

The Boulder Valley school board voted 5-2 Tuesday to close four elementary schools and reorganize others, amid calls from parents and local officials to delay the decision.

Boulder Valley School District leadership presented the proposal four weeks ago, saying it was necessary to use resources more efficiently as enrollment declines. The plan closes Douglass, Flatirons, Mesa and Birch elementary schools, changes the grades served at two K-8 schools and relocates two focus schools. The changes take effect in fall 2027.

Board President Nicole Rajpal and board members Alex Medler, Jason Unger, Lalenia Quinlan Aweida and Jorge Chávez voted for the plan. Rajpal and other supporters said it was in the district’s best interest.

“In voting for this plan I truly believe that we are voting to provide the best learning environments for our students and staff,” Rajpal said.

Board members Deann Bucher and Ana Temu Otting voted against the plan after each proposed a resolution to remove elements of it. Both resolutions received support only from those two members.

“You are brave enough to survive whatever happens tonight,” said Bucher, who received a loud ovation from the packed room after a speech expressing sadness about the decisions being made.

The applause contrasted with the boos directed at board member Aweida, seated beside Bucher, during remarks that some in the crowd felt mischaracterized the community pushback to the plan.

During public comment, parents and community members from schools slated to close questioned the reliability of enrollment projections and whether the plan would leave some schools crowded and others underenrolled. They also said the district had not provided enough analysis or alternatives to the proposal. More than 5,000 people signed a petition asking the board to pause the vote and address unanswered questions.

In its published FAQ, the district says schools receiving additional students will have room for them, though some may need to limit open enrollment or rearrange existing spaces. It also says savings from closing schools will allow it to reduce class sizes at all elementary schools in the district.

Boulder City Councilmember Tara Winer, the entire Lafayette City Council, members of the Broomfield City Council and state Rep. Junie Joseph also sent letters to the board suggesting a pause on the vote. The letters argued that further planning was needed to ensure an effective long-term solution, citing unresolved questions about enrollment projections and how city planning efforts could affect those estimates.

Hundreds of parents, kids and community members gathered outside the BVSD office before the meeting with signs, microphones and T-shirts to call for a pause. Students chanted to passing cars, saying “save our schools,” and parents expressed frustration about the short time between the proposal’s release and the vote and what they felt was a lack of real engagement.

Rajpal said in her opening comments that she responded to people who contacted her soon after the proposal was presented. After that, she said, attorneys were hired and advised against further email communication.

Bob Segar, a former planner and Douglass grandparent, said the process did not provide meaningful engagement because the district gathered community feedback before announcing the plan, then presented only one proposal, with no alternatives to compare.

“This is not dialogue, this is protest,” he said.

The closures show how far school communities extend beyond the physical facilities.

South Boulder Little League board president Dean Caramanidis also wrote a letter to the board arguing that closing Douglass and Flatirons would send its players into three other Little Leagues, break up this year’s 11U state champions and cut off the free T-ball pipeline that supplies players to its teams.

Beginning in fall 2027, the changes will redraw school communities across the district. Mesa will merge with Bear Creek at the Bear Creek building, and Birch with Kohl at the Kohl building. Douglass’ attendance area will be divided among Coal Creek, Eisenhower and Heatherwood, and Flatirons’ between Whittier and Foothill.

High Peaks will move to the Douglass campus, while Community Montessori will leave its building for High Peaks’ space at the Aurora 7 campus, sharing it with the Boulder Community School of Integrated Studies.

Eldorado PK-8 will become an elementary school, and Monarch PK-8 will become a middle school serving students in grades six through eight from both schools’ attendance areas. Monarch’s preschool-through-fifth-grade attendance area will be divided among Fireside, Superior and Eldorado.

Still awaiting details on central office cuts and staffing models

Some parents have questioned why BVSD is closing schools to save money instead of first addressing rising administrative costs. The district says the closures will free up millions of dollars for the remaining schools. Superintendent Rob Anderson has also promised cuts to central administration.

During budget discussions this April, Anderson said he asked his staff to identify $1 million in cuts within central administration and included that amount in the budget to be spent elsewhere in the district. When Boulder Reporting Lab followed up last week to ask exactly where those savings would come from, the district said that information was not yet available.

During the Sept. 15 work session, board member Chávez asked Anderson about those cuts. Anderson said the dollars would be reinvested to eliminate multi-age classrooms, which combine students from different grades. However, the district has said the restructuring plan would eliminate those classrooms on its own, so it’s unclear how the administrative savings would contribute to that goal.

According to a slide presented at the Sept. 15 work session, half of the schools with part-time staff would not receive full resources because of low enrollment — a concern for parents whose children are being reassigned to those schools. The district did not provide details when asked whether it would change how it allocates resources to schools that receive additional students but remain underenrolled.

For instance, schools with fewer than 350 students are generally considered “two-round” schools, with about two classes per grade. At that threshold, schools begin sharing resources, including traveling specials teachers and interventionists. So parents wonder: Will their school be closed and their child reassigned to a school with fewer resources?

Attempts to change the plan

Bucher was the first to propose a resolution in support of teachers with children in district schools. A career educator herself, she wanted the district to help those children attend the schools where their parents teach. She raised concerns that teachers might not know their new work assignments until after the priority open enrollment period for their children had ended. That resolution was dropped after Anderson promised to work with the union on an agreement addressing that concern.

Temu Otting then submitted a resolution to remove Broomfield schools from the proposal until after Adams 12 school board votes on its closure plan, which she believes will affect enrollment at BVSD’s Broomfield schools.

“I was elected to represent all of BVSD but Broomfield is my home,” she said in an earlier statement.

Bucher was the only other member to support that resolution. The five members who opposed it said the district needed to act now and that the plan only worked as a whole.

Medler also proposed guaranteeing High Peaks and Community Montessori students a place at their neighborhood school if they choose not to move with their focus school. Only Bouchard supported the amendment, which failed.

Finally, Bucher spoke emotionally about her last resolution, to keep Douglass open. Under the approved plan, its attendance area will be split among three other schools, and High Peaks will move into its building. She spoke about the need to preserve the district’s rural schools and designate Douglass as a rural school, arguing that enrollment projections focused on students living nearby were unfair to a school in an area with such sparse housing.

That resolution was supported by Temu Otting but no others.

What comes next

“I implore everyone in this room to stay engaged!” yelled one parent after the plan was approved and board members exited the room for a break. “Our voices are loudest every time we cast a vote.”

One person chanted “recall Rajpal,” while others just shrugged and committed to continuing to work on the issue throughout the transition process.

Some attendees left the room in tears after a month of trying to make sense of the proposal. For families, the next task is figuring out how to navigate the transition.

Flatirons mom Heather Thorne said she’s considering all of her options and will try to stay with her school community. Her family’s attendance area will be reassigned to Whittier.

“We will never let our son bike there,” she said, citing traffic concerns.

She also wonders what will happen to the Flatirons building and whether its future use will serve neighborhood families. The district has said decisions about unused buildings will be addressed through a separate process.

Open enrollment for the 2027-28 school year is scheduled to begin Nov. 1, when families can apply to a school other than their assigned neighborhood school.