The Board votes September 22
Now tell the Board how you feel
A ready-to-send email for every board member, opening with these words. About two minutes.
Write to the Board →I live in the Douglass attendance area and am also the parent of a child who attended Douglass. I am deeply concerned that the district is proposing to close a healthy, functioning neighborhood school that is not suffering from the enrollment problems typically associated with school closure. Instead, Douglass appears to be being used as a solution to enrollment and capacity challenges at other schools. Before closing Douglass, BVSD should be exploring ways to strengthen enrollment at the school itself, including new or expanded programs that could attract additional resident and choice families. Douglass has an established community foundation and should be given the opportunity to continue and grow as a thriving elementary school. I am also particularly concerned about the proposal to divide the Douglass attendance area among three different schools. That does more than change school boundaries. It breaks apart friendships, neighborhood connections, and a shared sense of community and identity. For children and families in this area who already experienced enormous disruption and loss from the Marshall Fire, those relationships and that sense of belonging have real importance. Closing a successful neighborhood school should be a last resort, not a mechanism for solving enrollment problems elsewhere in the district. Douglass deserves a thoughtful process that considers alternatives for strengthening the school and preserving the community it has served for generations.
The Board votes September 22
A ready-to-send email for every board member, opening with these words. About two minutes.
Write to the Board →