As students head back to Boulder Valley classrooms this week, schools will have fewer teachers and other staff members to mirror enrollment declines — and a tight budget is keeping the school district from adding extra staff members as itap done in years past to bolster smaller schools.
Parents at Nederland Middle/Senior High have shared concerns for several years that the small school is understaffed, saying there aren’t enough teachers to offer students all the classes they need and implement a promised technical education focus. The school this year also will start with the elementary school. Combined, Nederland Elementary and the middle/senior total about 360 students.
And at tiny , a second year of enrollment thatap around 10 students has the district allocating only a single classroom teacher for the first time in many years. Previously, the school had two classroom teachers who split the grade levels.
Even bigger schools are feeling the pinch.
The principal at Louisville’s Monarch High School recently sent a note to parents warning them that not all elective class requests could be honored because “some courses had to be cut completely, while others are at their max capacity with no room for additions.” The note went on to say that schedule request changes will be limited, with “class sizes that are as high as 36-38 students in some classes, with no room to move students around because of preferences.”
“We’re very intentional with our allocation of resources, even more so in this age of tightening the belt and knowing we have to be very careful,” said Robbyn Fernandez, Boulder Valley’s assistant superintendent of schools.
Overall, the districtap number of certified educators was down 11 total positions from the previous school year as of the end of July, but is down close to 100 from the 2023-24 school year. The district has about seven fewer full-time equivalent counseling positions this year, plus small reductions in full-time equivalent positions for P.E., music and art.
Boulder Valley spokesperson Randy Barber noted this year’s teacher numbers will change over the first few weeks of school, making comparisons to previous years less accurate. Individual schools also use their staffing allocations differently, with some schools converting a teaching staff position to a counseling position, for example.
Staff reductions are likely to continue for the next several years, mirroring enrollment declines. The districtap 27,300 student enrollment is expected to drop between 1.5% and 2% per year.
“Everybody will be seeing little bits and pieces of this,” Barber said.
Along with , district officials point to a new state funding formula as the main reason for . The budget for the upcoming school year included smaller than typical raises for employees and no extra money for staff positions above the enrollment-based formulas the district uses to staff its schools. The district, however, is continuing a longstanding practice of using reserves to address enrollment “bubbles” that push class sizes past limits agreed to with the teachers’ union.
Fernandez said the district is monitoring enrollment and class sizes daily, especially in kindergarten, where itap more challenging to predict enrollment numbers. Schools also try to accommodate late open enrollment applications, if there’s space. At Gold Hill, she added, the district allocated a full-time teacher aide to help in the multi-age classroom, creating an “incredibly low” student-to-adult ratio.
“We’re working very, very hard to be incredibly accurate and precise with our resources,” she said.
