Breaking: New scenarios call for the closure of 5 PSD schools
Beattie Elementary, Johnson Elementary and Blevins Middle School, plus two other schools, would all close under every revised scenario for Poudre School District consolidation.
All four options were prepared by a steering committee and obtained and confirmed to the Coloradoan by multiple sources Friday. The school district, which initially would not comment on the scenarios, later distributed an email detailing the scenarios Friday afternoon confirming the reporting.
Each option includes the closure of five schools total, beginning with the 2025-26 school year.
Linton Elementary, Cache La Poudre Elementary, Putnam Elementary, Boltz Middle School, Cache La Poudre Middle School, Harris Bilingual and Preston Middle School are all listed at least once as recommended closures under the revised scenarios.
Poudre School District leadership and its Board of Education have said the closures, consolidations and boundary changes are necessary to deal with declining enrollment and the associated budget reductions in per-pupil funding from the state.
The new scenarios were prepared based on feedback the steering committee received from earlier draft proposals. Feedback on the new options will be accepted through May 19 through an online survey available on PSD’s long-range planning website.
Final recommendations of options from the 37-member Facilities Planning Steering Committee are scheduled to be presented to the Board of Education at its May 28 meeting, with a final vote by the school board scheduled for June 11.
The school board will host a public listening session for feedback on the final recommendations from 5:30 to 10 p.m. June 4 in the auditorium at Fort Collins High School, 3400 Lambkin Way.
The options for changes are listed below by school first and later grouped by the four full scenarios.
Beattie Elementary
All four scenarios call for the closure of Beattie Elementary and to move those students to Lopez and Bennett elementaries.
Johnson Elementary
All four scenarios call for the closure of Johnson Elementary and to move those students to Olander and McGraw elementaries.
In two scenarios, Polaris Expeditionary Learning School would move into the current Johnson Elementary building.
Blevins Middle School
All four scenarios call for the closure of Blevins Middle School and to move those students to Webber and Lincoln middle schools.
Linton Elementary
Linton Elementary would be closed under three of the four options. Students would primarily be moved to Kruse while adjusting boundaries for Kruse, Bacon, Werner and Zach to accommodate the Linton/Kruse consolidation.
Linton would receive students under the fourth scenario if Harris Bilingual closes. It would become a dual-language school with three tracks (three classes at each grade level).
Harris Bilingual
In one scenario, Harris Bilingual would close and be consolidated into Linton to accommodate three classes at each grade level.
Current Harris students could choice in to either Irish or Linton.
Cache La Poudre Elementary and Middle schools
In one scenario, Cache La Poudre Elementary and Middle schools would both close.
The elementary students would be moved to Irish, Putnam and Tavelli elementaries. Middle school students would move to Lincoln Middle School.
In other scenarios, the elementary school could absorb students from other schools should they close.
Putnam Elementary
In one scenario, Putnam Elementary would close and students would move to Irish, Cache La Poudre, Dunn and Tavelli elementaries.
Students from Poudre Valley Mobile Home Park would be specifically moved to Tavelli, and Dunn’s boundary would be expanded to absorb more students, including those in Hickory Village.
In some scenarios where other schools are closed, Putnam Elementary would take on additional students and/or become a Core Knowledge school.
Boltz Middle School
In one scenario, Boltz Middle School would close, pushing students primarily to Preston Middle School with some moving to Lesher Middle School. Boltz’s dual-language program would move to Lincoln Middle School.
The Boltz attendance area could be adjusted in at least one scenario should the school remain open.
Preston Middle School
One scenario calls for the closure of Preston Middle School and to make Kinard Core Knowledge Middle School a neighborhood school, keeping its Core Knowledge curriculum, with Zach, Bacon and Bamford elementaries feeding into it. Boundaries would be adjusted between Kinard and Boltz Middle School to accommodate overflow.
If Preston stays open, it could see changes to its feeder schools as well as which high schools it feeds into.
Preston could also absorb students if Boltz were to close.
Bamford Elementary
Three of the four new options prepared by the steering committee would move students attending Bamford Elementary on the northeast edge of Loveland to a Fort Collins middle school and then Fossil Ridge High School rather than the Timnath Middle-High School attendance area they’re now in.
Polaris Expeditionary Learning School
Two of the revised scenarios would move Polaris Expeditionary Learning School, a 100% choice-only program, into the building that now houses Johnson Elementary.
Irish Elementary
Two scenarios would move Irish Elementary, a neighborhood dual-language school, into the building now housing Polaris and turn it into a 100% choice school.
Timnath Middle-High School
One scenario would remove middle-schoolers from Timnath Middle-High School, making it a traditional high school for students in grades 9-12 living east of Interstate 25.
Those middle school students, in grades 6-8, would be moved into Preston Middle School, with some boundary adjustments made to the Boltz attendance area to handle overflow.
Under this option, the high school boundary between Timnath and Fossil Ridge high schools would become Interstate 25, with those on the west side in the Fossil Ridge attendance area and those on the east side in the Timnath attendance area.
Scenario D1
Close Blevins Middle School and move those students to Webber and Lincoln middle schools.
Close Beattie Elementary and move those students to Lopez and Bennett elementaries.
Close Johnson Elementary and move those students to Olander and McGraw elementaries.
Close Cache La Poudre Elementary and Middle schools and move elementary students to Irish, Putnam and Tavelli elementaries and middle school students to Lincoln.
Close Linton Elementary and move those students primarily to Kruse while adjusting boundaries for Kruse, Bacon, Werner and Zach to accommodate the Linton/Kruse consolidation.
Redraw boundaries for elementary schools east of Interstate 25 to balance enrollments at Timnath, Bethke and Bamford.
Adjust Bamford Elementary’s feeder so that it feeds into Preston Middle School and Fossil Ridge High School rather than Timnath Middle-High School.
Modify attendance area and programming at Irish and Putnam elementaries by: keeping the current boundaries and allowing students currently in kindergarten through second grade to attend either school and receive busing, if needed, with new students in grades 3-5 sent to Putnam; Irish would keep its dual-language program with guaranteed busing available for Spanish-speaking students; Spanish speakers would also be allowed to enroll at Irish year-round; and Putnam would become a Core Knowledge school.
Scenario D2
Close Blevins Middle School and move those students to Webber and Lincoln middle schools.
Close Beattie Elementary and move those students to Lopez and Bennett elementaries.
Close Johnson Elementary and move those students to Olander and McGraw elementaries.
Close Linton Elementary and move those students primarily to Kruse while adjusting boundaries for Kruse, Bacon, Werner and Zach to accommodate the Linton/Kruse consolidation.
Close Boltz Middle School, pushing students primarily to Preston Middle School with some moving to Lesher Middle School. Move Boltz’s dual-language program to Lincoln Middle School.
Move Polaris Expeditionary Learning School into the building currently housing Johnson Elementary.
Move Irish Elementary to the building currently housing Polaris as a 100% choice dual-language school with the potential to grow into a K-8 school. Irish boundary would be absorbed into Cache La Poudre and Putnam elementaries, with boundary adjustments also made to Dunn and Tavelli elementaries to balance enrollments.
Redraw boundaries for elementary schools east of Interstate 25 to balance enrollments at Timnath, Bethke and Bamford.
Adjust Bamford Elementary’s feeder so that it feeds into Preston Middle School and Fossil Ridge High School rather than Timnath Middle-High School.
Scenario E
Close Blevins Middle School and move those students to Webber and Lincoln middle schools.
Close Beattie Elementary and move those students to Lopez and Bennett elementaries.
Close Johnson Elementary and move those students to Olander and McGraw elementaries.
Close Harris Elementary and move those students to Linton Elementary, which would keep its current boundaries while becoming a dual-language school with three tracks (three classes at each grade level). Current Harris students could choice in to either Irish or Linton.
Close Preston Middle School and make Kinard Core Knowledge Middle School a neighborhood school, keeping its Core Knowledge curriculum, with Zach, Bacon and Bamford elementaries feeding into it. Boundaries between Kinard and Boltz would be adjusted to balance enrollment.
Move Polaris Expeditionary Learning School into the building currently housing Johnson Elementary.
Move Irish Elementary to the building currently housing Polaris as a 100% choice dual-language school with the potential to grow into a K-8 school. Irish boundary would be absorbed into Cache La Poudre and Putnam elementaries, with boundary adjustments also made to Dunn and Tavelli elementaries to balance enrollments.
Redraw boundaries for elementary schools east of Interstate 25 to balance enrollments at Timnath, Bethke and Bamford.
Scenario F
Close Blevins Middle School and move those students to Webber and Lincoln middle schools.
Close Beattie Elementary and move those students to Lopez and Bennett elementaries.
Close Johnson Elementary and move those students to Olander and McGraw elementaries.
Close Putnam Elementary and move students to Irish, Cache La Poudre, Dunn and Tavelli elementaries. Students from Poudre Valley Mobile Home Park would be specifically moved to Tavelli, and Dunn’s boundary would be expanded to absorb more students, including those in Hickory Village.
Close Linton Elementary and move those students primarily to Kruse while adjusting boundaries for Kruse, Bacon, Werner and Zach to accommodate the Linton/Kruse consolidation.
Irish Elementary remains a dual-language school, but students there in grades K-2 may choose to attend Irish or Cache La Poudre and will receive busing to either school. New students in grades 3-5 in the expanded Irish boundary will automatically go to Cache La Poudre.
Redraw boundaries for elementary schools east of Interstate 25 to balance enrollments at Timnath, Bethke and Bamford.
Remove middle school students from Timnath Middle-High School, pushing its middle-schoolers to Preston Middle School. At the high school transition, students residing east of Interstate 25 would attend Timnath High School, while those residing west of I-25 would attend Fossil Ridge High School. Enrollment overflow at Preston would be managed with adjustments to the Boltz Middle School attendance area.
This is a developing story and additional information will be published in the coming days.
Reporter Kelly Lyell covers education, breaking news, some sports and other topics of interest for the Coloradoan. Contact him at kellylyell@coloradoan.com, x.com/KellyLyell and facebook.com/KellyLyell.news.
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Poudre School District committee releases school closing scenarios
