Residents object loudly to school facility plans

By Cherry Sokoloski
North Forty News

Poudre School District has its back to the wall when it comes to next year's budget.

The Facility Design Feasibility Committee also has difficult challenges, since cost-cutting options on the table are being met with loud public opposition. In the North Forty News readership area, the schools threatened with closure or consolidation are Red Feather Lakes Elementary and the Cache La Poudre schools in LaPorte.

Final decisions about the schools will likely not be made until January or February. The goal is to decide before the school-of-choice deadlines, which are Jan. 29 for secondary schools and Feb. 12 for elementary schools.

Options being considered include closing the Red Feather school and busing those students to Livermore, and moving the Lab School in with the CLP elementary and middle schools. PSD wants to close the existing Lab School and sell the property. There are no plans to close either CLP school, according to Kevin Hahn, assistant superintendent in charge of secondary schools.

The school district is affected by the dismal financial situation at the state level. Dave Montoya, PSD budget manager, said the state is cutting $3.3 million from this year's district budget, and the future looks even grimmer. Next year's cuts aren't definite yet but will likely be $8 million or more.

One thing is certain, and that is who will be making the final decisions about the schools. PSD Superintendent Jerry Wilson said those decisions lie squarely in his lap.

"I will be the sole decision maker," Wilson said, adding that there are "pretty stringent parameters" for making the decisions based on executive limitations imposed by the school board.

Wilson expects the feasibility committee to narrow the options. Before decisions are made, he said, school board members will have ample opportunities to provide their input.

Two newly elected board members are doing just that, and both have expressed concerns about the possible changes.

"I am extremely concerned about the possible closing of Red Feather Lakes Elementary School," said Patrick Albright of Wellington. "The school is more than a neighborhood school, it is a community school, and many of the Red Feather residents are worried that its closure would have a devastating impact on their village."

While acknowledging PSD's financial quandary, Albright said that "Red Feather Lakes is a part of our district, and we have an obligation to make certain that that community is served just as well as Fort Collins."

James Ross, who lives south of LaPorte, noted that both the Lab School and the CLP schools want to maintain the autonomy of their programs.

"There's a misperception that the Lab School is trying to force themselves into a new place," he said, "but they're actually being displaced."

Ross attended PSD input sessions at both schools. The Lab School parents and faculty, Ross said, like their current central location, since parents must transport their children to school. For their part, the CLP families are "a tight-knit community," he observed, who are asking a lot of thoughtful questions about combining the two schools.

Ross said the school board will discuss its role in the decision-making process at a retreat on Dec. 5.

The Red Feather Lakes Planning Advisory Committee has expressed strong opposition to closure of the elementary school, and opposition is also coming from Livermore parents.

Livermore PTO president Cindy Wojtysiak noted that the Livermore school has a capacity of 100 students, and the infusion of Red Feather students would put the school close to that limit. "That would leave no room for school of choice children," she said. There would also be overcrowding in the combined fourth/fifth grade class.

In November, PSD hosted meetings at both CLP Middle School and Red Feather Lakes Elementary. About 70 people attended the CLP meeting, and the Red Feather gathering attracted about 140.

In Red Feather, one person asked why their school was being targeted for closure, rather than one of the other mountain schools. Wilson said the Red Feather school is the costliest to operate. However, when asked what the district would save by closing the school, Wilson said he couldn't give a "firm figure" yet until the feasibility committee does its work.

The per-pupil budget is about 80 percent higher for the mountain schools than the district as a whole.

Red Feather residents complained that if the school were closed, the community would lose young families and thus its employee base. Other concerns were the long bus ride for children, the possible elimination of the preschool and the effect on property values.

Brian Unger said the district would be "cutting off your nose to spite your face" if it closes Red Feather. "You could lose all the savings through lower taxes," he said, if property values decline.

Given the grim financial picture, Wilson said, "It's my fear that PSD may have to look at more than one closure."

At the CLP meeting, parents expressed concerns about combining two schools that have starkly different teaching styles. The Lab School is an expeditionary learning school, so students do much of their work outside the classroom. Hahn said the proximity of the Poudre River to the CLP schools is attractive for the Lab School concept.

Also, since the Lab School wants to change from K-6 to a K-8 configuration, the fact that LaPorte has both elementary and middle schools on the same campus is appealing. The school needs a minimum of nine classrooms, Hahn said.

One CLP parent said the two LaPorte schools have a total of only three classrooms available. "Why are we being considered?" she asked.

Parents complained that two sets of rules within the same school would pose challenges for the principal, teachers and students. They also feared a loss of school identity and harmony. Some commented that there would be no room for growth.

Many emphasized that there's a special environment and cohesion at the CLP schools and the district shouldn't "mess with it."

Some suggested closing the Lab School or looking at empty commercial spaces for the school. Other sites being considered for the Lab School include Moore, Riffenburgh and Bauder elementary schools.

The Facility Feasibility Committee has scheduled several public input meetings in December. Meetings are planned Dec. 7 at Fullana Learning Center, Dec. 9 at Bauder Elementary and Dec. 10, 6 to 8 p.m., at Red Feather Lakes Elementary. In addition, members of the committee are listed on the district's web site www.psdschools.org, and they can be e-mailed directly with concerns or comments.