Northern Colorado school district plans to close nine schools, "It's just a lot for the community"

Poudre School District is proposing to close nine schools and consolidate two others as soon as next year. The plan could force some students to change schools and, in some cases, significantly lengthen their commutes.

The Comprehensive Planning Committee's recommended closure list includes Beattie, Irish, Johnson, Putnam, Timnath, Stove Prairie, Red Feather and Livermore elementary schools, as well as Blevins Middle School.

The proposal also calls for Centennial High School and Poudre Community Academy to consolidate to form a new school.

The recommendations are not final. The committee is scheduled to formally submit the list to the Poudre School District Board of Education on Oct. 13, with a final vote scheduled for Oct. 27.

District Superintendent Brian Kingsley said the proposed changes are being driven in part by declining enrollment.

"We serve the children that live here. There are just fewer children that reside here, and that is not in our locus of control," Kingsley said in a news conference.

For parents, the proposed closures would mean changes to where their children attend school and how they get there.

Peri Mueller, a Poudre School District parent whose son attends Blevins Middle School, said the news has been difficult to process.

"The news is honestly hitting me a little bit harder than I thought it would," Mueller said.

Under the proposal, Blevins would close, with students assigned to either Webber Middle School or Lincoln Middle School.

Mueller said the change could mean her sixth grader might have to take a bus to school rather than walk.

"I think my mind is just logistically trying to figure out what we're going to do next year," Mueller said.

She said having her oldest son walk to and from Blevins has been important for her family.

"It's a big impact to our family. We live locally in the neighborhood," Mueller said. "Having the ease of our oldest son being able to walk to school, to and from is a huge part of having two working parents in the household."

The proposal would also close all three "Mountain Schools" -- Stove Prairie, Red Feather and Livermore. Kingsley said that could result in some students in Red Feather facing hourlong one-way commutes to schools closer to Fort Collins.

"It's just it's a lot for the community, I think," Mueller said.

Kingsley said the proposal would come with significant layoffs but said the quality of education would not change.

"Nobody wants to know that their children are potentially going to have a teacher that they don't know yet. Nobody's going to be excited about that until they know what they're getting on the other side," Kingsley said.

The district plans to hold four community listening sessions in October where residents can speak directly with board members about the proposed closures. Sessions are scheduled for Oct. 12 at Timnath Middle-High School, Oct. 14 at Rocky Mountain High School, Oct. 15 at Poudre High School and Oct. 19 at Fort Collins High School.