Colorado's Poudre School District Board Votes 5-2: Four Schools to Close and Two High Schools to Merge From Fall 2027, Two More Elementary Schools Delayed to Fall 2028
FORT COLLINS, Larimer County, Colorado — The Poudre School District Board of Education voted 5-2 at a meeting convened on October 27 and running into the early hours of October 28 to close four schools and merge two high schools beginning in the 2027-2028 school year, while delaying the closure of two more elementary schools to the 2028-2029 school year; the three mountain schools originally recommended for closure will remain open.
Under the board action published by the district on October 28, Beattie Elementary School, Johnson Elementary School, Putnam Elementary School and Blevins Middle School will close effective July 1, 2027. Students within Beattie Elementary's neighborhood boundary will be assigned to Lopez Elementary School and Bennett Elementary School; Johnson Elementary students to Olander Elementary School and McGraw Elementary School; Putnam Elementary students to Dunn Elementary School and Tavelli Elementary School; and Blevins Middle School students to Webber Middle School and Lincoln Middle School.
Also effective July 1, 2027, Centennial High School and Poudre Community Academy will consolidate to form a new school, with the future location to be determined in early 2027. A boundary change for Bacon Elementary School will also take effect July 1, 2027.
Two elementary schools will close later: Irish Escuela Bilingüe Elementary School will close in the fall of the 2028-2029 school year, with students assigned to Cache la Poudre Elementary School and Bauder Elementary School, while the district develops a more unified Dual Language program during the 2026-2027 and 2027-2028 school years to begin in the 2028-2029 school year. Timnath Elementary School will also close in the fall of the 2028-2029 school year, with students assigned to Linton Elementary School and Bamford Elementary School, unless the Town of Timnath secures funding by November 2027 to fully fund a new elementary school owned and operated by the district to replace it.
All three mountain schools originally recommended for closure — Livermore Elementary, Red Feather Elementary and Stove Prairie Elementary — will remain open. In a letter to families, the district said the October 27 vote closes or consolidates six schools beginning in the fall of the 2027-2028 school year and two more beginning in the fall of the 2028-2029 school year, thanking students, families, staff and community members who shared their perspectives throughout the process.
The plan grew out of a Comprehensive Planning Committee recommendation shared on September 25, which proposed closing nine schools and consolidating two beginning in the 2027-2028 school year, citing a sustained decline in school-aged children and roughly 10,000 empty seats across the district. The committee is made up of parents, principals, teachers, employee association representatives and community members; the board held community listening sessions from October 6 to 19 and received the formal presentation on October 13.
The district said the first-round School Choice window runs November 4 to December 16, 2026, with students from closing schools receiving priority consideration, and that transportation will be available to students living outside the walk zones of their newly assigned schools.
Source: GSM · America
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：美国小学资料图（CC0 公共领域，Missvain 摄，Wikimedia Commons），非涉事学校。File photo of a U.S. elementary school (CC0, by Missvain, via Wikimedia Commons); not one of the schools named in this report.
