Parents warn Poudre closure plan hits special needs students hardest

Why it matters

The Oct. 27 vote will decide more than which buildings stay open in Poudre School District. For students in the autism, Integrated Learning Services and affective needs programs, it also decides whether familiar classrooms and support move with them, and whether receiving schools have the space and facilities ready first.

Board to vote Oct. 27 on closing nine schools

The Poudre School District Board of Education is scheduled to vote Oct. 27 on a recommendation to close nine schools and consolidate two others, made public Sept. 25 by a 25-member planning committee.

Parents and staff members have told the Board of Education that the plan will have a disproportionate impact on students with special needs in the schools set for closure. Changing schools is a much bigger concern for students in those programs than it is for other students, parents and school staff have repeatedly told the board at community engagement sessions since the recommendation was made public Sept. 25.

Three special needs programs would move to new schools

Three programs would move if the recommendation is approved as written: Johnson Elementary School's autism program to McGraw Elementary School, Putnam Elementary School's Integrated Learning Services program to Tavelli Elementary School, and Blevins Middle School's affective needs program to Lincoln Middle School.

Johnson Elementary School has a center-based autism program, and Putnam Elementary School has the Integrated Learning Services program, which includes some students with Down syndrome. Blevins Middle School has an affective needs program, often referred to as a program for students with behavioral issues.

The move to Tavelli Elementary School would require work before Putnam students arrive. Three classrooms at Tavelli would have to be converted to house the Integrated Learning Services program, the recommendation reads, and students and staff would need access to a restroom with an adult-sized changing table and a Hoyer lift for students with mobility issues.

Putnam parent urges board to put students first

Jen Ivan, a parent of a student in the Integrated Learning Services program at Putnam Elementary School, urged the board in an Oct. 26 letter to put students in the program first in the plan, not second.

Ivan shared the Oct. 26 letter with the Coloradoan. "All students deserve access to a good education, and our children are the ones most likely to lose it quietly," she wrote. "Please put them first in this plan, not second. A plan built for them will serve all students well."

Tavelli space, second move for Johnson students raise concerns

Parents of Putnam students have questioned whether Tavelli Elementary School has enough space for three new classrooms and the required restroom, while four Johnson autism students already changed schools before this school year.

Tavelli had 481 students in 2025-26, according to the Colorado Department of Education, and was at 84% capacity, according to the district's facilities dashboard. Ivan and other parents of students in the Integrated Learning Services program at Putnam have expressed concerns about whether the school has enough space to accommodate the three new classrooms and required restroom facilities.

At Johnson, four of the 15 students in the center-based autism program this year were moved there from Bauder Elementary School before the 2025-26 school year, two teachers in the program told members of the Board of Education during an Oct. 19 engagement session at Fort Collins High School. The board is scheduled to vote on the full recommendation Oct. 27.