🏫 BVSD board votes to close four elementary schools

Good Wednesday morning, Boulder. Today’s BRL Today is sponsored by Bank of Colorado, a family-owned community bank serving Coloradans since 1978 with 45 locations statewide. Learn more.

Leading today: The Boulder Valley school board voted 5-2 Tuesday to close four elementary schools and reorganize others. Douglass, Flatirons, Mesa and Birch will close in fall 2027, with other schools moving or changing the grades they serve.

District leaders say the changes are necessary to sustain school resources as enrollment declines. More than 5,000 people signed a petition asking the board to pause, and some local elected officials joined those calls. Parents opposed to the plan questioned the projections and the pace of the decision.

Students chanted “save our schools” outside the BVSD offices, while families filled the meeting room. Some attendees left in tears.

Jenna Sampson reports on the decision and what comes next, with Mike Thurk’s photos capturing students, families and board members throughout the evening.

Plus more, Below the Fold:

BoulderCAST: Clouds, cooler temperatures and a small chance of showers.
Food honors: Our own John Lehndorff joins the Hall of Fame.
Safer streets: Your daily trips could help shape local plans.
Election prep: Watch ballot-counting equipment get a test run.

Thanks, as always, for reading,

– The BRL team

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

Douglass, Flatirons, Mesa and Birch will close under a broader restructuring plan beginning in fall 2027. Families raised questions about staffing, enrollment projections and the transition. Continue reading…

Music lessons were out of reach for some Boulder families. Then Parlando brought them closer to home.

A new partnership offers sliding-scale piano, violin and cello lessons at Boulder Housing Partners communities, removing a key transportation barrier. Continue reading…

Late-season monsoon surge largely misses Boulder again

Colorado is getting hit by a late‑season monsoon surge this week, but Boulder … not so much.

A West Coast trough and a stubborn Gulf Coast ridge are teaming up to funnel a deep plume of moisture into Colorado. Two disturbances will move north from Mexico: one today and a stronger one tonight into Thursday. The second will help bring widespread rain to the Eastern Plains.

But here in Boulder? We will be on the quieter, gloomy fringe of the action.

Expect only a 20%-30% chance of showers today. The conditions needed to produce rain will stay mostly south and east of us, leaving abundant clouds and highs in the upper 70s.

Temperatures drop into the 50s tonight, with a few spotty showers possible. Tomorrow brings more clouds, another chance of showers and highs in the mid- to upper 60s.

—BoulderCAST

BRL’s John Lehndorff earns lifetime achievement honor

Boulder Reporting Lab food editor John Lehndorff, a longtime Boulder food columnist and local dining expert, will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Colorado Restaurant Association this fall. He is among the honorees being inducted into the Colorado Foodservice Hall of Fame at the Nov. 16 HOSPY Awards gala in Denver.

John brings that deep knowledge of Boulder County’s food scene to Nibbles, BRL’s free weekly food newsletter, every Tuesday. Join us in congratulating him!

Readers can also support local HOSPY finalists, including Frasca’s Nate Bingaman for bartender of the year, Odd Rabbit for newcomer restaurant of the year and Black Cat Farmstead for restaurant of the year. See the full list and vote by Oct. 30.

How Boulder gets around, and how kids could get to school more safely

Boulder’s last resident travel survey captured a major shift: Nearly 23% of residents reported working from home every workday in 2023, almost double the share in 2018. Yet about 35% of trips were still made by people driving alone, according to findings BRL reported in 2024.

Now the city is taking another look. Randomly selected Boulder Valley residents will receive a travel survey and diary in the mail through October, with English and Spanish response options. If one arrives, the city encourages you to participate: The results help guide transportation planning and measure progress toward community goals.

Meanwhile, families don’t need an invitation to weigh in on safer school routes. Boulder County’s Safe Streets for Students effort will develop safety plans for five to 10 priority schools in the Boulder Valley and St. Vrain Valley districts, plus a toolkit for all public pre-K-12 schools in both districts. Potential improvements include safer crossings, bike lanes and changes to school pickup and drop-off.

Students, parents, school staff and other residents can take the survey, flag trouble spots on an interactive map or try a Minecraft-style safe streets builder to share their ideas.

Watch Boulder County test its ballot-counting equipment Sept. 29

Boulder County will conduct a logic and accuracy test for the 2026 general election at 10 a.m. Sept. 29 at the county Ballot Processing Center, 1750 33rd St. in Boulder. The test checks that ballots are properly printed and read by scanning equipment and that votes are counted accurately.

The event is open to the public, with RSVPs requested by 5 p.m. Sept. 28 because space is limited. Testing is expected to last until at least 5 p.m., but visitors don’t need to stay the full day. It may continue Sept. 30 if needed. Results will be posted on the county’s website.

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