Four elected bodies wrote to BVSD. Not one endorsed the plan.

Douglass families filled the chamber on September 15 with a plan that was not on the council's agenda. In fifteen minutes the council found that BVSD counts Lafayette's children at Douglass but never included Lafayette families, never modeled Lafayette's boundaries and never asked the city about the growth it is planning. Without a single objection it agreed to write. The letter went four days later.

It asks BVSD to consider whether it has a sufficient record of engagement and information to include Douglass Elementary in the September 22 vote — and says plainly that it is not asking for a particular outcome.

“It does seem to me it's very clear there was a process foul here.”

Councilor Kyle Beaulieu

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Seven residents raised the plan in open comment across two council meetings. On September 17 the mayor pro tem read the council the letter she was sending BVSD, under the subject line “Plea for a pause.” Council member Taishya Adams said she would send her own, and that the questions still open about basic issues are a concern.

The city says it meets BVSD quarterly, and that its talks with the district came before any schools were chosen.

“Please listen to the parents who love their neighborhood schools and pause this decision.”

Mayor Pro Tem Tara Winer

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Broomfield council members wrote about Birch Elementary with six questions about the model behind the recommendation: what data was used, what factors were considered, whether they were weighted and how, what assumptions went in, and how all of it produced the recommendation now in front of the Board.

They also ask why BVSD's Boulder schools were redistricted last year and Broomfield's were not, and note that Birch recently received bond funding. They are explicit that they are not asking for Birch to stay open.

“Our request is for time.”

The letter's own words, set large on the page

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Our state representative met about fifty constituents who wanted to talk about the closures, told them she would carry what she heard to BVSD, and did. Her letter relays three themes: what measures will show the plan is meeting its objectives, enrollment and capacity and the communities that felt left out of engagement, and transition plans for the students most affected.

She says she does not suggest fifty people speak for the district — only that they reached out directly, many on behalf of neighbors who could not attend a midday meeting.

“Pausing long enough to hear directly from these community members and to address the questions they have raised.”

Rep. Junie Joseph

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