Douglass Elementary, the sign of which shown here on Sept. 10, 2026, is one of four schools that may close in the Boulder Valley School District. (Photo by Addie O’Neil)
Parents and students raise concerns after BVSD proposes closing four elementary schools
By Addie O’Neil and Bronte Moore
Boulder Valley School District officials are expected to face a difficult decision on Tuesday, Sept. 22 about whether to close four elementary schools before the 2027-28 school year and make changes that would affect 16 schools across the district.
It’s not a popular proposal among some parents, who argue the changes would disrupt established school communities and separate students from their classmates.
BVSD’s board is concerned about declining enrollment and empty seats— in short, too many schools and not enough students to fill them. It’s part of a national trend in enrollment, with The National Center for Education Statistics projecting a decrease in 2.7 million students in public schools from 2022 to 2031.
BVSD projects 1,700 fewer students in five years, for a total decline of 5,000 students since 2017, according to Randy Barber, BVSD’s chief communications officer.
The four schools on the list to close are all elementary schools in Boulder: Mesa, Flatirons, Community Montessori, and Douglass.
Savannah Ross, whose two boys go to Douglass and who is a member of the PTO, received the potential school-closure news via email while at her children’s soccer practice.
“It came as a complete shock to me, and it was gut-wrenching,” Ross said.
Ross said her family moved to South Boulder in 2021, “partly because of the wonderful things I had heard about Douglass.”
“Eight months later, my house burned down,” she said. “I chose to rebuild here, even after the fires, because I thought it was worth it for my kids to be in a wonderful school and neighborhood. So, yeah, this is rough.”
Many Douglass families were also affected by the Marshall Fire, which destroyed 1,000 homes across Boulder County and displaced more than 1,100 BVSD students, according to The Colorado Sun. The district later reported that 561 students’ homes were destroyed and nearly 250 additional students were displaced.
Under the BVSD proposal, Douglass students would be divided among Coal Creek Elementary in Louisville, Eisenhower Elementary in Boulder, and Heatherwood Elementary in Boulder. High Peaks Elementary would then move into the Douglass building in Boulder. Community Montessori would move into the High Peaks building in Boulder, and Flatirons students would go to either Whittier or Foothill Elementary School in Boulder.
“We don’t even have a choice to stay — is this the best plan for me or the easiest for you?” Douglass Elementary fourth-grader Ensley Waters told the board of education at a hearing on Sept. 8 at Monarch High School.
The district’s Long Range Advisory Committee, established in 2022, provided information on enrollment trends and school use. The committee recommended monitoring schools with two or fewer classes per grade and enrollment at 60% of capacity or below. Douglass did not meet those thresholds.
The district says the proposed closures and relocations are intended to address declining enrollment, reduce excess building capacity and concentrate resources to maintain strong learning opportunities for students.
“We’re trying to make change in order to make sure they’re strong into the future. This moment in time is a hard moment in our community,” Barber said.
Kelsey Crandall, a Douglass Elementary parent, calls the goals “a massive assumption with no measure for success. Smaller class sizes have been identified as a metric, but no number given.”
Parents in the Douglass Elementary community created savedouglass.com, a website that includes information about BVSD’s proposal, ways to take action, and a petition asking the district to remove Douglass from the proposal. As of Sept. 20, the petition has 2,090 signatures.
Erin Pommer, whose children also go to Douglass, said she would rather see the BVSD board present a “more comprehensive plan.”
“When 2,000 kids’ lives and stability are at stake,” she said, “the term ‘progress over perfection’ does not apply.”
