Templates/Wording

Please send as many emails and make as many calls as possible. The sooner the better! Here is a list of ideas, template, and information on where to send your email.

1. Email your message to boe@psdschools.org as soon as possible. Note that emails sent to the BOE email account are public record. Do not include information about your family that you do not want in the public record; personal stories emailed to your individual director are not public record.

2. Separately, send an email and/or call your city council member and the city

council member for the district in which your school of concern resides (find both here or below).

Polaris – Emily Francis efrancis@fcgov.com 970-556-4748

Olander – Shirley Peel speel@fcgov.com 970-217-5817

Centennial – Susan Gutowsky sgutowsky@fcgov.com 970-294-2575

Blevins – Kelly Ohlson kohlson@fcgov.com 970-493-7225

Poudre Community Academy – find your local district council member (building is out of district)

3. Pick 3 main points from the list below, personalize them if you can, and focus on a succinct message. If you are willing, please request a personal meeting with your specific board director (found here, click on interactive map link) to talk about this plan and get more information. Please understand that PSD teachers/staff /admins cannot communicate on this issue. Our most important message is to STOP THE VOTE at Tuesday’s BOE meeting to allow for collaboration, transparency, and community input.

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Optional Talking Points:

Breakdown of EL Model

- Dismantling/fragmenting the existing program instead of expanding it in its current form

- Not guaranteeing the continuity of EL leadership (principals, admin, staff, teachers) in order to use their expertise and experience for this expansion

- Potential loss of intensives, fieldwork, community meetings, mixed grades, teacher looping, etc. due to increased class sizes and insufficient support

- Loss of small class sizes, which is a critical tenet in alternative learning models (EL, Discovery, etc.)

Legality & Transparency

- Announcement was “out of left field” to all involved

- No board meeting record about this proposal being drafted or discussed

- Potential for planning behind closed doors in violation of district policy which mandates public input

- Being disseminated to the entire district as a “done deal”, BOE plans to vote on Tuesday (10/10) THEN have community engagement sessions = backward

- Timeline to implement and spread alternative learning models (Experiential Learning, Discovery) is WAY too short

- Involved schools for mergers have been given no clarity or direction as to how the mergers will work

- Proposal to change the physical location of multiple schools without feedback from the neighborhoods or larger community

Student Success and Staff Impacts

- No current master plan for transition has been provided or communicated

- Putting too much of the intended success on Polaris teachers to train others and expand EL model without support in an extremely short time frame

- Teachers/Staff/Admins not informed who will be transitioned/retained

- This causes stress and decrease in learning THIS YEAR as well as in the years

following the transition

- 16.8% of the district population with a 504 is enrolled at Polaris. Potentially 25%+ with IEP is enrolled at Polaris. These students have a grad rate of 91% in 4 years, 100% in five years from Polaris compared to neighborhood schools that graduate 55% of students with disabilities

Mental Health & Sense of Belonging (Strategic Plan)

PSD’s claim: “want to ensure that students and their families have strong educational options in PSD that meet their unique needs and help them experience academic success.”

- Polaris is high-achieving, operates within its limited budget, and has high academic output per dollar. Dilution of the model does not ensure families have strong educational options that meet their needs.

- The other two choice schools (Poudre Community Academy and Centennial) were also targeted (punished?): programs specifically designed to support and lift kids in need of alternative educational options.

- Many kids come to the few alternative programs offered within PSD to escape bullying, and it helps them achieve academic success as indicated by data. Forcing them back into a large school environment with no clear plan to protect vulnerable student populations will negatively impact academic success for all students.

PSD claims decreasing enrollment is driving these changes

- Data shows that parents choosing to homeschool drives much of this drop, likely to decline further as students run out of alternative options

- Charter and private schools with alternative learning models have been taking more of PSD students because their attendance has remained steady/increased since 2014-2023

- As addressed by city council, housing affordability is also a driver for enrollment decline

- Declining enrollment is given too much weight; other options exist such as redrawing neighborhood boundaries, rethinking mergers, closures, etc.

PSD claim: They support Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity.

- Substantial percentage of the student population at the affected alternative model schools are at risk/LGBTQ+/Neurodivergent/high anxiety and did not feel safe at other schools

- The staff and administration in the affected alternative learning model schools excel at and have cultivated exactly what PSD strives for: support and inclusion

- Covid ramifications have been a huge hardship for our children and this poorly planned proposal will be one more disruption to their educational experience.

Proposed solutions:

Instead of dismantling the prime example of EL success (Polaris!), we should replicate it sustainably, with the ability for each campus to flex to its own issues.

- Designate a new EL classroom/or whole school at Olander (and reduce class sizes accordingly) and Blevins and let the teachers train with Polaris staff to start their own campuses.

- Move Polaris in its entirety to the Olander building and combine Olander and Blevins as a K-8 expeditionary learning community with support from Polaris as a flagship training institution.

- STOP THE VOTE and take the time to interview experts, make transparent the crafting of a new 5-year plan for these building transitions. Let staff, students, and parents have adequate planning time.