"Two elementary schools and possibly one middle school": the Broomfield email
The email Boulder Reporting Lab cited on August 20 is in the district's production. It is a four-message thread whose subject line, as the district sent it, reads Follow up to our conversation - school closure (Cenntenial), with "Centennial" misspelled, which is why searches for the school's name miss it.
- What it is. On Friday, March 13, 2026, Broomfield's City & County Manager, Jennifer Hoffman, met Superintendent Rob Anderson and COO Rob Price. On Monday, March 16, she wrote to the Adams 12 superintendent, who had his own closure conversation under way (Adams 12's Centennial school is the one in the subject line): "Based on that discussion, it sounds like two elementary schools and possibly one middle school are currently being considered for closure… with final adoption anticipated in October 2026." #161
- How BVSD came to have it. Hoffman's email was to Adams 12, not to BVSD. It reached BVSD only because Adams 12's COO forwarded the thread to Rob Price that evening to ask about aligning the two districts' council presentations. It is that forward the district produced. #161
- What followed. Adams 12 could not reach BVSD for two weeks; on April 2 Price replied with the City of Boulder deck "which provides an example of our current approach"; on April 3 "our superintendents spoke today." #185 #187 #192
- Timing. Hoffman's note is dated four weeks before the first public "listening" session (April 13) and five weeks before the Broomfield session (April 20). The same week, BVSD's Boulder City Council deck said "Our focus now is on listening, learning, and engaging our community before any plan is developed." Boulder deck
- Caveats. Hoffman is paraphrasing a conversation ("it sounds like"); she does not say whether the count is Broomfield-only or district-wide; and no BVSD-authored document in the production states a number of schools. Her direct correspondence with Anderson or Price after the March 13 meeting, if any, was not produced, although both were custodians.
The thread, in order
Chris — always good seeing you. Thank you again for taking the time to meet with me. While conversations about potential school closures are never easy, the discussion around declining enrollment is not coming as a surprise, given the trends we've all been tracking. I'm including our internal team as this news is traveling quickly in the community.
I also wanted to share that I met with Rob Anderson and Rob Price on Friday to continue the conversation. Based on that discussion, it sounds like two elementary schools and possibly one middle school are currently being considered for closure. I understand the District is planning a series of community listening sessions, with the Broomfield session scheduled at Broomfield High School on April 20. I wasn't informed that there would be an article in the news this weekend.
BVSD has also been invited to provide a brief presentation to Council, which is currently scheduled for Tuesday, May 12, for approximately 15 minutes. As I understand it, the intent is for their staff to take the proposed plan and community feedback from the listening sessions to the Board in June, with final adoption anticipated in October 2026.
I am preparing an informational update for Council summarizing both conversations. Are you planning to release any formal notice or communications materials that I could reference in that update, particularly related to the timeline? Additionally, would you or a member of your team be interested in attending the Council meeting to provide context directly?
Appreciate the continued collaboration on this, and please let me know how we can best support coordination moving forward. Jennifer
Quoted inside the Adams 12 forward below; the original was not sent to BVSD. #161
Hi Jen -- thanks for this info.
Let us connect with the BVSD folks to learn more re their planned content for the May council meeting. Depending on their altitude and approach we may want to join in that presentation. We have our Legacy HS graduation at CU that night, and so we'd want to think about whether that evening works or if we might be able to present at a later meeting.
We'll circle back soon. Thanks for this info!
Sent from my iPhone. #161
Hi Rob!
We are just starting our closure and consolidation journey. I see you are ahead of us (see below). Do you mind sharing some of your next steps/plans for engagement with the city at the council meeting? I get the gist below, but I wanted to see if you have any additional information on the altitude at which you plan to present. It is typical that, as neighboring districts with schools in the City and County of Broomfield, we may need to align or at least compare and contrast our approaches.
I am off this week, so I added my Joe Ferdani, our Chief Communications Officer, to this in case anything is time-sensitive. I am back next if you'd prefer to talk via phone.
Have a great week!
-M
This is the message BVSD produced: file #161, sent to Rob Price with the two messages above quoted beneath it. #161
Good morning,
I am working on the upcoming agendas for City Council and wanted to see if you had a chance to connect with the BVSD staff regarding their upcoming presentation to Broomfield City Council on May 12th. While a combined presentation with both school districts will work on the 12th, I do not believe we have time for two separate presentations that evening and so I also wanted to see if perhaps May 19th would work for you if you would like to do a presentation specific to Adams 12 that evening instead.
Please let me know what works for you and your team.
Quoted in file #185. #185
Hi Anna -- I'm sorry for the pokey response . . . . I took last week off for spring break and am digging out from everything that piled up while I was away.
We've not been successful to date in connecting with BVSD counterparts about the upcoming presentation given our different spring breaks and people on both sides being out/unavailable. Our COO, Molly Brandt, is the lead for us in connecting with BVSD and I've added her here so that you can also reach out to her on status updates.
I have graduation ceremony conflicts on both May 12 and the 19th, but that may not be a big issue depending on whether Rob Anderson joins on the 12th or has someone else from his team present on behalf of BVSD.
Thanks for your patience on this . . . . we hope to close the loop on this in the next few days.
Quoted in file #185. #185
Would you happen to have time to chat about this tomorrow? If so, please give me a call on my cell, and I'll try to step out and take the call or send me a date/time that works for you this week.
Thank you!
See below.
File #185. #185
Hi Molly,
I apologize for the delayed response.
I have attached a presentation I previously gave to the City of Boulder, which provides an example of our current approach. I will give you a call so we can discuss this further.
Thanks,
Rob
File #187, with the attachment "Declining Enrollment Community Engagement _ City of Boulder (3).pdf" rendered inside it. The same deck as sent to the City Manager on March 13: City of Boulder deck.
Keeping you in the loop: Looks like our superintendents spoke today, and I may need to wait for more direction. Stay tuned!
Let me know what you hear on your end.
File #192, the last message in the thread. #192
Why it was hard to find
- The subject line as produced is Follow up to our conversation - school closure (Cenntenial): "Centennial" is misspelled, and the separator is a dash rather than a colon. Filenames follow the subject (Fwd_Follow_up_to_our_conversation_school_closure_Cenntenial_…), so a search for "Centennial" or for the colon form matches nothing in the folder, in Drive, or in the explorer's index. The explorer's summary for this thread now carries the correct spelling.
- "Centennial" here is Adams 12's Centennial Elementary in Broomfield, the subject of Hoffman's separate conversation with Gdowski, not BVSD's Centennial Middle School.
- Hoffman's message is not a standalone file. It exists only as quoted text inside the Adams 12 forward, so a filename or sender search on "Hoffman" or "broomfield.org" also misses it. Full-text search over the extracted text of all 397 files is the reliable method.
Context in the record
- March 13. The day of the Hoffman meeting is also the day Price sent the Boulder City Council deck listing the six Boulder elementaries whose resident students "cannot support 2 classes/grade." Boulder deck
- April 9–15. BVSD and Adams 12 then coordinated their Broomfield presentations; Brandt asked Price for "a shared altitude so that our presentation can merge and sync well, so the City Council is limited in comparing/contrasting our approaches." BVSD's Broomfield deck names no school. BVSD Broomfield deck Adams 12 reply
- Public line at the time. "No decisions have been made" (Feb 10 newsletter, Feb 11 to student press); "Our focus now is on listening, learning, and engaging our community before any plan is developed" (every council deck).
- Timeline drift. Hoffman recorded "final adoption anticipated in October 2026," matching every district timeline in the production; the vote is September 22.
What is not in the production
- Any email from Hoffman or Broomfield staff directly to Anderson or Price arranging or following up the March 13 meeting. Both were custodians of the request.
- A calendar entry for the March 13 meeting. Calendar items were requested; none were produced for anyone.
- Hoffman's "informational update for Council summarizing both conversations." That is a Broomfield record, obtainable from the City and County of Broomfield under CORA.
- The "article in the news this weekend" (March 14–15) that Hoffman had not been told about.
Documents
| # | Sent | Document | What it adds |
|---|---|---|---|
| #161 | 2026-03-16 17:21 | Fwd_Follow_up_to_our_conversation_school_closure_Cenntenial__03162026_0621PM.pdf | Molly Brandt (Adams 12 COO) forwards to Rob Price; contains Jennifer Hoffman's Mar 16 1:36 PM message and Chris Gdowski's 4:53 PM reply |
| #185 | 2026-04-01 17:52 | Fwd_Follow_up_to_our_conversation_school_closure_Cenntenial_.pdf | Apr 1: Brandt chases Price for a call; Gdowski to Broomfield: 'not been successful to date in connecting with BVSD' |
| #187 | 2026-04-02 11:51 | Re_Follow_up_to_our_conversation_school_closure_Cenntenial__04022026_1251PM.pdf | Apr 2: Price replies, attaching the City of Boulder deck 'which provides an example of our current approach' |
| #192 | 2026-04-03 17:49 | Re_Follow_up_to_our_conversation_school_closure_Cenntenial_.pdf | Apr 3: Brandt: 'Looks like our superintendents spoke today, and I may need to wait for more direction' |
| #160 | 2026-03-13 12:51 | March_26_Council_Meeting_Presentation.pdf | The City of Boulder deck Price attached on Apr 2 |
| #212 | 2026-04-09 09:20 | City_of_Broomfield_Presentation.pdf | BVSD's draft Broomfield council deck |
| #269 | 2026-04-13 20:51 | Re_City_of_Broomfield_Presentation.pdf | Adams 12's "shared altitude" request |