Parents file Open Meetings lawsuit against BVSD · September 30, 2026
On September 22, 2026, BVSD voted 5–2 to adopt the Resilient Schools plan, moving roughly 1,800 students for less than 1% in budget savings and a five-point gain in the utilization of Boulder's elementary school buildings.
On September 30, 2026, parents from the Douglass, Flatirons, and Mesa school communities filed a lawsuit under the Colorado Open Meetings Law. The suit alleges that key policy decisions behind the Resilient Schools plan were made without the public notice, observation, and participation the law requires. Those claims will be decided by the court.
We support it, because decisions with lasting consequences for students have to be made in the open. We will report on it here as it moves through the court.
That the court stop BVSD from assigning students based on the Resilient Schools plan, or taking other steps that would make it hard to unwind, until the lawsuit is resolved.
The parents will also ask the court to hear the case on an expedited schedule. They recognize that families, teachers, staff and schools need certainty, but decisions with lasting consequences for students must be made openly. Colorado law requires it.
The lawsuit does not ask the court to decide which schools stay open or what education policy BVSD should adopt.
It also does not seek to pause Open Enrollment, school tours or information sessions, so families should keep sharing their preferences and exploring all their options.
Relief could include setting aside BVSD's approval of the plan and requiring a properly noticed public process.
That would not dictate the outcome. After a lawful process, BVSD would remain free to make the decision it believes is right.
In the news
Boulder Reporting Lab · Oct 1
BRL Staff
The week after the October 2025 work session at the center of the complaint, BRL found, a district planner went looking for an old agreement governing the sale of school property.
Colorado Public Radio · Oct 1
Rae Solomon
Plaintiff Katie Rosenthal: “I want openness, I want discussion, I want data.”
Axios Boulder · Oct 1
Mitchell Byars
The four board members whose seats are up in November 2027, Medler, Unger, Quinlan Aweida and Chávez, all voted for the closures.
FOX31 · Oct 1
Alyssa Beebe, Nate Belt
Katharine Rosenthal, on camera: “They really feel blindsided and there’s a huge loss of trust.”
Daily Camera · Oct 1
Amy Bounds
The complaint quotes the LRAC framework as an early warning system “to prevent surprise closings based on closed door decision-making.”