BOULDER, Colo. — For some families in the Boulder Valley School District, the past few weeks have been stressful as parents and students have spoken out against the district to save their schools from being closed or consolidated.
On Sept. 22, the BVSD board voted 5-2 to move forward with consolidating schools next fall, a plan that closes four schools and impacts 16 in total. After the decision was made, BVSD Superintendent Rob Anderson told reporters he believes the district is ready to move forward with consolidation.
"This has been a really difficult process for many of the folks in our community and a long time coming. We're looking forward to moving forward to support our families and support our students as we transition," he said.
Denver7 reporter Maggy Wolanske spoke to Boulder Valley parents about this lawsuit in the video below:
The decision stems from the Resilient Schools Proposal with the district facing declining enrollment and thinning resources. Denver7 previously reported BVSD enrollment has dropped by 3,675 students while building numbers have remained the same.
"I wouldn't say that we rushed anything. I think that we've been talking about this for a long time. I think we were very transparent on the dollars that we would recoup and reinvest in the student experience, which is what our community told us when we asked them last spring," said Anderson.
Moving forward, this means BVSD will close Douglass Elementary, Flatirons Elementary, Birch Elementary, and Mesa Elementary. Thersea Schultz is a mother of three children who have gone to Mesa Elementary and is one of the parents that has filed a lawsuit against the district.
"So this is our lawsuit that we presented to two days ago, and it suggests that there were open meetings, violations and that the public was not included to the extent that they maybe could have or should have been in the decisions to close our schools," Schultz said.
Outside Mesa Elementary, a “Now Enrolling” sign is hard to miss. Schultz described the sign as incredibly depressing as up until Aug. 25, families were "doing everything we could to make sure that we had students here."
She said it felt as though the decision to close the schools had been made long ago, leaving parents feeling like their voices were never heard.
"I think the goal of this lawsuit is that the process be transparent. Declining enrollment is real. None of us are arguing that, something has to be done, and the government has obligations and responsibilities to parents. One of those obligations is that when decisions that will change the fabric of local communities are made, that we're included, that alternatives are considered, that constituents are heard when they are asking questions and throughout this process, there's been an opaque sense that we're not really understanding why this is happening," Schultz said.
Denver7 reached out to BVSD for a response to the lawsuit. We received the following statement:
"The Boulder Valley School District is aware that it has been named in a complaint alleging Open Meetings Law violations in connection the Resilient Schools proposal. We generally do not comment on pending litigation. The District is working with legal counsel to respond to the complaint."
