The Poudre School District Comprehensive Planning Committee has announced its recommendations for the district's future. The Fort Collins area school district has seen a decline in student enrollment in recent years. The changes include closing nine schools and consolidating two others as the district responds to the new demographics.
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“While PSD is one of the highest performing districts in the state and nation, there are simply fewer children being born in our community, the cost of living is high, fewer families are residing here, and that trend is expected to continue,” wrote Brian Kingsley, the superintendent of schools, in a release to the community.
The committee’s recommendations include:
- Beattie Elementary School will close and students within the neighborhood boundary will be assigned to Lopez Elementary School and Bennett Elementary School.
- Irish Elementary Escuela Bilingüe will close and students within the neighborhood boundary will be assigned to Cache la Poudre Elementary School and Bauder Elementary School. A specific cohort of multilingual language learners from Irish will be offered the opportunity to go to Harris Bilingual Immersion Elementary School.
- Johnson Elementary School will close and students within the neighborhood boundary will be assigned to Olander Elementary School and McGraw Elementary School.
- Putnam Elementary School will close and students within the neighborhood boundary will be assigned to Dunn Elementary School and Tavelli Elementary School.
- Livermore, Red Feather Lakes, and Stove Prairie Elementary Schools (the Mountain Schools) will close and students within the neighborhood boundaries of each school will be assigned to Cache la Poudre Elementary School.
- Timnath Elementary School will close and students within the neighborhood boundary will be assigned to Linton Elementary School and Bamford Elementary School.
- A boundary change will be implemented for Bacon Elementary School.
- Blevins Middle School will close and students within the neighborhood boundary will be assigned to Webber Middle School and Lincoln Middle School.
- Centennial High School and Poudre Community Academy will consolidate to form a new school. The future location will be determined in early 2027.
The district's goal is to implement the changes by the start of the 2027-28 school year.
For parents and students, the school board will hold four listening sessions before voting on the recommendations on Oct. 27. The sessions will be held on these dates:
- Oct. 12, 6 - 7:30 p.m,. Timnath Middle-High School (Auditorium), 4700 E Prospect Road, Timnath.
- Oct. 14, 6 - 7:30 p.m., Rocky Mountain High School (Media Center), 1300 W Swallow Road, Fort Collins.
- Oct. 15, 6 - 7:30 p.m., Poudre High School (Event Center), 201 N Impala Drive, Fort Collins.
- Oct. 19, 6 - 7:30 p.m., Fort Collins High School (Theater), 3400 Lambkin Way, Fort Collins.
PSD’s mental health team will be available at these sessions to assist parents and students in understanding how the changes will impact them. The district also released an FAQ page to help explain what the changes mean for families.
The district also announced assistance for staff who could be affected by the changes.
“I know that this recommendation creates uncertainty, concern, and difficult emotions, and all of those feelings are understandable and are being taken seriously,” the announcement read.
The Poudre School District is not alone in considering these changes. Other major districts around the state, such as Denver, have also closed and discussed closing schools due to declining enrollment.
