Is BVSD the Place to Be?

Rogan Oakes and Milan Gdowski • November 13, 2023

BVSD’s 56 schools all gathered in the BVSD is the place to be event on October 11th in an attempt to let individual schools convince students to join the district.

Boulder Valley School District has a major problem: they are running out of students. Although many in Boulder High School struggling with packed classrooms and insufficient space in our school may find this hard to believe, the school district is experiencing an issue that they have named “declining enrollment.”

This is primarily affecting the elementary school population in the district, which numbered 13,000 students in 2016 and has declined to 11,321 in 2022. Projections indicate that this trend is set to persist, with the overall population of the school district expected to decline from its current figure of 28,000 to 27,000 by the 2026-27 school year.

This situation is extremely alarming to BVSD because for every 1% decrease in enrollment the state of Colorado cuts the district’s funding by 3 million dollars, meaning that BVSD will see a 10 million dollar budget drop in the next 5 years if the decline keeps occuring.

Many factors have caused this decline, including the fact that Boulder’s population has dropped by about 4% in recent years and the fact that Colorado is the second fastest aging state in America. Boulder high school principal Alana Morales also blamed private schools for the decline, saying that “More people are going to private schools and as you know, there are quite a few around us”.

The problem of private schools pulling away students from our district is one that BVSD is putting plenty of effort into solving. One recent strategy that they have employed is hosting a massive enrollment event called “BVSD Is the Place to Be Showcase” at the CU events center. The event, initially appearing to perplexingly advertise to students already in the district, aimed to spotlight BVSD’s accomplishments and encourage enrollment from new students.

The event itself was in the CU Event Center, with each school and each sector of BVSD (food, transportation, health, etc) having their own informational stand. Administrators and teachers in each stand interacted directly with students and parents at the event, showcasing the best parts of their school and the district to attract more students.

Many notable points of pride for BVSD were displayed at the showcase. The School Food Project had a stand at the event where they presented the food that students can expect to eat at BVSD, which tasted surprisingly better than our cafeteria food. This event also exhibited opportunities for high school students, presenting their bilingual credit programs, the College Before Graduation Program, and Boulder Tec.

Despite declining student numbers and budget constraints, BVSD continues to invest generously in new projects. Since 2014, BVSD has authorized the construction of five new schools, notably the Parkdale K-8 school in Erie and a new building for New Vista High School. The district has also allocated a substantial budget, nearly $658 million, for school improvements, including projects like new HVAC systems, enhanced school security, and upgraded libraries or gyms for many buildings.

Furthermore, BVSD is actively promoting its image as an environmental steward, exemplified by its introduction of a fleet of electric buses. According to Landon Hillard, an administrator in the BVSD Transportation department, “A point of pride for this school district is that we are the first school district in the state to own and run an electric school bus”. While these buses are more energy-efficient and cost-effective in the long run, their initial price of around $350,000 per unit surpasses that of diesel buses at $100,000 per unit. BVSD justifies this expense with claimed environmental benefits, even as the production of EVs is significantly more carbon-intensive than internal combustion vehicle production and the buses rely on mostly non-renewable electricity sources. Still, these buses have a 50% lower carbon footprint, and more importantly, they are yet another project to improve the image of BVSD.

As BVSD continues to fight declining enrollment in our school district and faces significant budget cuts, the district seems to have decided to continue spending money on projects aimed at enhancing the district. These initiatives, although costly, improve the reputation of the school district and may help attract more students as private schools pull away students and families move out of the district. BVSD is outspending the competition in the greater Boulder Area, and through doing so, they are showing their determination to better their district, prevent the impending budget cuts and attain more young students.

About the Contributors

Rogan Oakes, Writer

Rogan Oakes is a senior at Boulder High and a writer for the Boulder High Owl. This is his second year writing for The Owl, and he intends to write more groundbreaking articles containing investigative journalism. Some of his target articles, as he's shown in the past, include infiltrating cults and exposing wrongdoings of local businesses. The investigations are anything but easy without his fellow journalist Milan Gdowski. Outside of the newspaper, Rogan encourages students to go check out Boulder High's theater performances, where he will be acting or helping with Front of House. When he's not participating in a school activity, Rogan enjoys skiing and hiking in the company of his family and friends. You can often find him working at his dojo teaching children how to effectively attack each other. He also teaches them the importance of preferring green grapes over red ones due to their superior texture and flavor. Some of Rogan's other activities are going out to Minnesota for fishing, family, and camping. To him, the outdoors are a necessity, and he can't live without them.

Milan Gdowski, Writer

Milan Gdowski is a senior attending both Boulder High School and Boulder Tec, where he hopes to become a Criminal Investigator as well as an Investigative Journalist. He has remained committed to writing for The Owl for a second year in a row, even as BVSD scheduling rules have tried to push him out of the class. Milan has written and contributed to many well-received articles in The Owl about differing controversial topics, including the price gouging of students at Circle K, the evils of Instagram, the decline of BVSD, and the alleged cult that started the Marshall fire. He often shares the brunt of the work by investigating and writing stories with his fellow trusted journalist, Rogan Oakes. Outside of journalism, Milan is a crew member and actor for the BHS theater department who starred in 2 Black Box plays at the same time last year, a stressful experience he never wants to repeat. When too stressed out, Milan finds solace by spending hours watching pools of water as a lifeguard for the City of Boulder. He also finds ways to enjoy the water by swimming and surfing at the beach, although he also likes lying in the sand and reading mystery novels. Milan’s favorite beverage is Arizona Iced Tea, which he likes just like his grapes: in the green variety.