BOULDER, Colo. — Boulder Valley School District students and staff head back to the classroom this week, but for some kids, it may be the last school year at their current school.
"We were projecting declining enrollment, or enrollment decline, since about 2018, 2019," Rob Price, assistant superintendent of operational services for Boulder Valley Schools, said of the challenge many school districts across the state are experiencing.
In 2022, the BVSD Board of Education put together the Long Range Advisory Committee to look into possible solutions. The current proposed changes will keep schools open, but change the boundaries of where students can attend school.
"The district really hasn't adjusted attendance boundaries in over 40 years, so this is a big move for us," Price said. "There's really three changes at the elementary level and attendance boundaries, and then two more at the middle school."
One change would re-assign a section east of Highway 119, west of 63rd St, and north of Independence Road from the Crest View Elementary boundary to the Heatherwood Elementary boundary, as seen below:
That change would also make the new Heatherwood Elementary section feed into Nevin Platt Middle School, instead of Centennial Middle School, as seen below:
Another change would have the Whittier boundary absorb a so-called bubble boundary that exists inside Whittier, but is currently assigned to the Creekside boundary. Whittier students would feed into Casey Middle School and continue to Boulder High School, as seen below:
Another change would convert the Bear Creek/ Creekside dual attendance area west of Broadway and north of Table Mesa to a Bear Creek boundary only, as seen below:
The final change being considered would include all of the Whittier Elementary boundary as a feeder for Casey Middle School, and have the Creekside Elementary boundary feed into Manhattan Middle School. Both would continue to feed into Boulder High School, as seen below:
"Our board feels like it's really important that this is where students grow up, that they go to school through different feeders with the neighborhood school," Price said of streamlining feeder school options for elementary school students. "So they go from elementary to middle to high school, right? When we're looking at that right now, we have certain elementary schools that can feed into three different middle schools, so we're not meeting that need that the board has set for us."
The proposed changes would impact around 150 students. The district said it realizes some parents will want their students to stay at their current school. In those cases, the families can re-enroll for School Choice and will be able to stay if there is space and resources to accommodate the student.
"As we're thinking about this, the board wrote in their policy that we review these every five years. So this will be a five-year cycle that we're looking at as we move forward," Price said. "These aren't decisions that are necessarily in place for 20 years, 30 years. We're going to be looking at these decisions every five years and reassessing the decisions."
Nothing is set in stone yet. The district said it reached out to families that would be impacted by these proposed changes over the summer and is in the process of compiling their feedback.
Public comment is encouraged at the BVSD board meetings throughout August and September. The board is expected to make its final decision at its second September meeting.
If the board chooses to implement those attendance boundary changes, they will take effect in the 2026-2027 school year.
