The spring survey: what it asked, who answered, and what we still don’t have
BVSD’s Resilient Schools Community Survey went to every staff member and family in late April and May 2026, and its results are part of the case for the proposal. This page gathers everything we can find about it: how it was built, what it asked as far as the district has shown, who responded, the results by group and region, and the questions it never put to anyone.
- We have no copy of the questionnaire itself. It is not in the records request files, the Drive folders we checked, the district’s Resilient Schools pages or the family inbox checked. Each invitation carried a personal, single-use link, and the survey closed on May 17.
- Its structure and its twelve items can be pieced together from the district’s June 9 presentation and staff’s description on September 15. Respondents saw nine screens, each showing four of twelve priorities, and picked the most and least important on each. Then they chose up to three must-haves from the full list.
- None of the twelve priorities is about closing, merging or keeping open a school. The nearest is neighborhood school proximity. The invitation called it a five-minute survey about values and priorities and did not mention closure.
- Nine percent of families answered: 2,936 of 32,966 invited, alongside 1,700 of 6,110 staff and 608 community members from a polling firm’s sample, for 5,244 responses.
- Two numbers are easy to misread. The 90 percent for small class sizes is from 30 teacher roundtables, not the survey; in the survey, 46.6 percent chose small class sizes as a must-have. And the preference for consolidating schools comes from feedback packets at the engagement sessions and from the teacher roundtables, not from the survey.
What the survey asked
Part 1: ranking
A fixed list of twelve priorities. On each of nine screens, four priorities chosen at random; respondents marked the most and least important of the four.
Staff said respondents found it frustrating to rank things they all considered important, and that this was by design. 1:01:23 1:02:10
Part 2: must-haves
The full list of twelve, from which respondents could choose up to three must-haves.
What we don’t know
The exact wording on screen, the instructions, any questions about role, school or neighborhood, any open-ended question, and the Spanish version.
The twelve priorities, as the district labeled them in its results, with each one’s must-have rate and its share of relative importance from the ranking exercise. The importance shares add to 100 percent across the twelve. p. 49 p. 52
| # | Priority | Chosen as a must-have | Relative importance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Small Class Sizes (K-5) | 46.6% | 22.0% |
| 2 | Full-time Art, Music, and PE (At every school) | 41.9% | 12.6% |
| 3 | Full-time Math and Literacy Specialists (At every school) | 29.7% | 9.3% |
| 4 | Equitable Funding for All Schools (Directing resources where needs are highest) | 27.5% | 10.1% |
| 5 | Full-time School Counselors (At every school) | 27.5% | 6.9% |
| 6 | Neighborhood School Proximity (Walkable schools/short commute) | 24.2% | 9.4% |
| 7 | Expanded Advanced Academic Programs (e.g., Gifted & Talented, accelerated math) | 21.8% | 10.1% |
| 8 | Manageable Special Education Caseloads | 20.9% | 7.1% |
| 9 | Teacher Planning and Collaboration Time | 19.7% | 3.5% |
| 10 | Safe and Modern Facilities (Buildings and tech) | 19.6% | 4.2% |
| 11 | Variety of School Models (Focus programs in addition to Neighborhood Schools) | 12.0% | 3.7% |
| 12 | Full-time Teacher Librarian (On-site daily) | 6.1% | 1.1% |
All respondents, 5,244. The district’s summary slide ranks the top three ranking-exercise items as small class sizes, equitable funding and neighborhood proximity; its detailed chart puts art, music and PE second, with equitable funding tied for third and neighborhood proximity fifth. p. 22 p. 52
What it never asked
- Nothing about closing or merging schools. No priority mentions closure, consolidation, reconfiguration or keeping a particular school open. Respondents ranked twelve things schools could offer against one another; none of the choices set those against closing or merging schools.
- The invitation didn’t mention closure either. It described a short survey on values and priorities for elementary and PK-8 schools.
- Options were tested elsewhere. The feedback packets at the seven engagement sessions (568 returned) and the teacher roundtables asked people to choose among actions. Staff said consolidating schools came first there, then splitting PK-8 schools, then closing schools and redistributing students, then relocating focus programs, reconfiguring K-5 schools, and last, new focus programs. 1:04:35 1:05:32 p. 21
Who answered
| Group | Invited | Completed | Response rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parents and guardians | 32,966 | 2,936 | 8.9% |
| Staff | 6,110 | 1,700 | 27.8% |
| Community members, from a polling firm’s sample | not given | 608 | not given |
| Total | 5,244 |
Counted by role instead, 2,799 were parents only, 1,141 staff only, 696 both, and 608 community members. Staff said families were invited as a census rather than a random sample, so everyone could take part, and that a random sample would have guarded better against nonresponse bias. The community sample was run by a local polling firm, named in the meeting captions as Mellan Strategies, which also produced its own analysis. p. 46 p. 47 0:59:27 1:00:06
Family response by region
| Region | Completed | Families | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Louisville/Superior | 688 | 6,332 | 10.9% |
| Boulder | 1,239 | 12,242 | 10.1% |
| Nederland | 50 | 623 | 8.0% |
| Broomfield | 258 | 3,690 | 7.0% |
| Lafayette/Erie | 464 | 6,776 | 6.8% |
| Other | 237 | 8,321 | 2.8% |
| Sum of the rows | 2,936 | 37,984 | 7.7% |
The slide’s own total row repeats Boulder’s family count, which makes its total 24 percent. The rows actually add to 7.7 percent. The overall table above uses a different family count and gives 8.9 percent. The slide does not say who is counted as Other. p. 48
Results by group and region
Share choosing each priority as a must-have. Shaded cells are that column’s top three, as the district marked them. p. 50
| Priority | Parents only (2,799) | Staff and parent (696) | Staff only (1,141) | Community (608) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small class sizes | 46.9% | 52.6% | 42.6% | 46.4% |
| Art, music and PE | 45.3% | 35.8% | 34.7% | 46.5% |
| Math and literacy specialists | 33% | 26.1% | 23% | 31.6% |
| Neighborhood proximity | 32% | 13.6% | 11.1% | 25% |
| Advanced academics | 29.5% | 10.5% | 7.8% | 25.3% |
| Safe, modern facilities | 23.1% | 11.9% | 16.5% | 18.1% |
| School counselors | 22.2% | 42.7% | 36.5% | 17.4% |
| Equitable funding | 20.8% | 28.9% | 38.9% | 35% |
| Special education caseloads | 14.6% | 28.6% | 33% | 18.1% |
| School models | 13.1% | 11.6% | 8.9% | 13% |
| Planning time | 12% | 28.4% | 36.9% | 12.7% |
| Teacher librarian | 4.9% | 7.3% | 8.8% | 5.4% |
Parents and staff-parents by region. Neighborhood proximity was a top-three must-have in Boulder and in Louisville and Superior, and equitable funding in Nederland. p. 51
| Priority | Boulder (1,327) | Broomfield (296) | Lafayette/Erie (503) | Louisville/Superior (751) | Nederland (53) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small class sizes | 49.3% | 43.6% | 46.1% | 51.4% | 45.3% |
| Art, music and PE | 42.4% | 40.5% | 46.1% | 46.1% | 50.9% |
| Math and literacy specialists | 31.6% | 36.8% | 31.6% | 31.8% | 30.2% |
| Equitable funding | 19.7% | 24% | 29.8% | 14.4% | 43.4% |
| Advanced academics | 27.4% | 23% | 28.2% | 27.7% | 24.5% |
| Neighborhood proximity | 35.7% | 25% | 13.5% | 41.8% | 13.2% |
| School counselors | 23% | 29.1% | 25.8% | 24.9% | 20.8% |
| Safe, modern facilities | 19.7% | 23.6% | 23.5% | 19% | 22.6% |
| Special education caseloads | 14.2% | 23% | 23.1% | 13.3% | 24.5% |
| Planning time | 13.9% | 15.5% | 11.9% | 12.9% | 13.2% |
| School models | 15.8% | 6.1% | 12.3% | 8.1% | 9.4% |
| Teacher librarian | 5% | 5.7% | 6.2% | 4.8% | 1.9% |
Respondents who had attended an engagement session differed most from those who had not on neighborhood proximity, which attendees ranked higher. p. 54
Reading the numbers
- The 90 percent is roundtables. On the summary slide it sits under teacher roundtables, 30 sessions. The survey figure for small class sizes as a must-have is 46.6 percent in the detailed table, or 42 percent on the summary slide. p. 22 p. 49
- The summary and detail slides disagree slightly. Must-have rates of 42, 41 and 32 percent on the summary slide are 46.6, 41.9 and 29.7 percent in the detailed table, with the same 5,244 respondents.
- Relative importance only ranks the twelve against each other. It says nothing about how respondents would weigh any of them against keeping their school.
- Self-selected. About one family in eleven answered, and the families who chose to answer may differ from those who didn’t.
How the survey came about
- Polling firm ExcellenceK12 to Randy Barber, the district’s chief communications officer
After a meeting that day, the firm sends two sample surveys from school districts in Missouri and Kansas, both of which ask residents about closing or consolidating specific, named schools. It quotes $27,000 for 300 telephone interviews plus online surveys of parents, staff and community, with results presented to the Board. Nothing else in the records mentions this firm, and the survey the district ran looked different.
Records file #50 - Contract with Education Resource Strategies
The consultant’s scope includes comparing what engagement-session participants said with broader district polling, to see whether attendees represent the wider community.
Records file #142 - Let’s Talk livestream, session three
District leaders say surveying and polling will follow the six engagement sessions, in May, with everything brought back to the Board in June.
Transcript, records file #234 - District newsletter; Barber to a Telemundo reporter
The April newsletter says every staff member and family will get a survey later in the month. Material Barber sent a Telemundo reporter says a district-wide survey will run in late April and early May.
April newsletter Records file #274 - Staff
The survey goes to staff, according to the district’s May 12 newsletter.
- BVSD Communications to families
Announces the Resilient Schools Community Survey for all staff and families: invitations from a Qualtrics address starting April 28, reminders by email and text, results to the Board in June, a plan in August and a Board vote by October.
Share your voice: Participate in our upcoming Resilient Schools Community Survey - Invitation, from Boulder Valley School District via noreply@qemailserver.com
Each family got a personal, single-use link. The email, in English and Spanish, describes a five-minute survey on what matters most to the family as the district plans for its elementary and PK-8 schools, open until May 17, with questions to survey@bvsd.org. It does not mention closure, consolidation or reconfiguration. This is when the invitation reached the Flatirons family inbox checked; the district says family invitations began April 28.
Help shape the future of BVSD schools (5 min survey) / Ayude a dar forma al futuro de las escuelas del BVSD (encuesta de 5 minutos) - Reminder, same sender
Asks for five to eight minutes before the survey closes on May 17. Again no mention of closure.
Reminder: Your input is needed by May 17 / Recordatorio: Necesitamos su opinión antes del 17 de mayo - Survey closesMay newsletter with the deadline
- Board meeting
Staff present the results with the other engagement data: response rates, representation, must-have items by group and region, and the ranking of the twelve priorities.
Presentation (55 pages) Meeting item on BoardDocs - Board work session
Rob Price cites the survey’s 5,244 responses among the data behind the proposal.
Transcript, 0:40:45 - Board work session
The district’s executive director of accountability and evaluation explains how the survey worked, how it was sampled and how it was checked.
Transcript, 0:58:04 Survey design, 1:01:23
What is still missing, and how to get it
A records request to the district could ask for:
- The questionnaire as fielded: every screen and instruction, the twelve items as worded on screen, the must-have question, any questions about role, school or neighborhood, any open-ended questions, the Spanish version, and the ranking design showing which sets of four each respondent saw. It is Qualtrics survey SV_3OUIhZXLggZ1Smy; a Word or .qsf export would answer this.
- Every invitation and reminder: the emails and text messages sent to staff from April 21, to families from April 28, and to community members.
- The community sample: the polling firm’s contract, how the 608 residents were recruited, what they were asked, and the firm’s separate report.
- The analysis: the ranking model and its scores, a de-identified response file, and how respondents were assigned to regions and roles.
- The other instruments: the session feedback packet, the QR-code follow-up survey and the teacher roundtable questions, since the preference for consolidation comes from those.
Anyone in the group who took the survey and saved screenshots could fill most of the first item now.
Related
- BVSD’s engagement page, which summarizes the survey.
- What BVSD emailed families about closure, September 2025 to August 2026
- September 15, 2026 work session transcript, from 0:58:04
- A survey Mesa parents ran themselves: 121 responses, sent to the superintendent on April 20, 2026 (records file #282).
- All records pages