Long-Range Planning in PSD

Board votes to end Long-Range Planning Process

During a special meeting on May 20, PSD Board of Education voted unanimously to end the current Long Range Planning process. With this vote, the work of the Facilities Planning Steering Committee has also ended and there will be no school closures or consolidations for the 2025-26 school year.

Next Steps

May 28 Board Meeting: Members of the steering committee will present a debrief and reflection on their work and the long-range planning process at the board’s May 28 meeting.
June 4 Listening Session: The one-hour community meetings with board members on June 4 will still be held.
June 11 Board Meeting: With this decision, the board will not vote on scenarios at its June 11 meeting.
Transition Pathways/Programs and Poudre Community Academy: The board has asked staff to determine the feasibility of finding another space to house Transitions Pathways/Programs and Poudre Community Academy (PCA) starting in 2025-26. Staff will bring recommendations as to where these programs might be housed to a Board of Education meeting this fall.

Together, we'll work to do what's best for kids

Our students have more diverse needs than ever, and we are preparing to support them with fewer resources. Declining birth rates and declining student enrollment are having negative impacts in Poudre School District and on school districts across the state of Colorado and the nation. Demographers project an enrollment decrease of about 10% in PSD in the next several years, which equates to a recurring reduction of roughly $40 million to the district’s annual budget (10% of a roughly $400 million total budget). Said another way, this is equal to about 404 full-time positions.

With mounting facility maintenance and improvement needs and a need for new facilities to support the continuing growth in some areas of our district – such as the towns of Timnath and Wellington – collectively nearing an estimated $1 billion in cost, the PSD Board of Education will need to decide whether to ask voters to support a ballot measure.

What are the issues?

Birth rates have been declining.

Student enrollment has been decreasing.

Colorado has one of the lowest funding rates for schools in the nation.

As a result, PSD faces significant cuts to programming and services and must make changes to educational programs, possibly consolidate schools, and change boundaries. Changes would go into effect no sooner than the 2025-26 school year.

We'll engage with our community to look for solutions

In PSD, we exist for our students. We believe in the transformative power of public education to positively impact students’ lives and prepare them to be successful in a changing world. One of the things that our students learn is how to solve real-world problems and adjust as things evolve. We are practicing what we teach and working with our community to address the very real challenges that are affecting our larger community today and for years to come. Navigating change isn’t easy, but we do so better when we do it together.

Roles in the first Long-Range Planning process

Facilities Planning Steering Committee: Leads this work
- Evaluates data and information and engages the community to develop two to three scenarios for change to address the challenges the district faces
- Guided by Colorado State University’s Institute for the Built Environment, an outside facilitator hired by PSD
- The committee's role/work ended with the board's May 20 vote to end the current Long-Range Planning Process.
PSD Staff and Superintendent: By invitation only
- Supports the work of the Facilities Planning Steering Committee by providing information and resources to the committee
Board of Education: Decision maker
- Listens to and provides feedback on the recommendation of the Facilities Planning Steering Committee
- Votes to approve any changes to be implemented for the 2025-26 school year

Community participation

In addition, all members of the community will be able to participate in the process by sharing ideas, concerns, and other feedback in listening sessions that are currently scheduled for March 2024.

The difficult but necessary steps we take today keep us aligned with our values of ensuring that students and their families have high-quality educational choices in PSD; growing the programs that are in high demand; and continuing to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars and community assets like our facilities. Inaction puts the long-term sustainability of our entire school district at risk in the future.