‘Incredibly disruptive’: Pueblo family warns against school closure amid budget concerns
PUEBLO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) - In a recent District 70 Board of Education work session, they said the school district could receive a significant amount less money from the state. They say a proposal from Governor Jared Polis to change the way schools get allocated funding would cause them to be without $2.5 million.
They say it's forced them to look for cost-cutting measures and ways they could save. Some ideas up in the air include closing down schools with lower enrollment rates, one of which is Avondale Elementary School.
Avondale Elementary School is where Amie Bulman went to school, so did her mom, and now her daughter in third grade is attending. Before that, her grandpa and great-grandpa also attended school in the same building before it was only an elementary school. Now the Bulman family is fighting to keep the school that is so heavily embedded in their family's roots alive.
"It's such an amazing school and she is a very intelligent young lady, but the staff does so much," shared Amie Bulman.
She says closing the school's doors would not only have a negative impact on her daughter's education but it would also impact the entire Avondale area.
"What's happening for these kids is so important. And it will have an irrevocable, negative impact on this community," said Bulman.
Bulman claims families would start to move out of the area and that Avondale would become a ghost town. She also says the school provides much more than just education to students, Bulman says it's a pillar in the community. She points to examples such as the school providing eye exams and lunches in the summer.
Now the Bulman family is calling on the community to save their school. They say if local lawmakers could just see the way the staff rallies around the students they would never be able to close it down.
"Every teacher in this school has memorized every single kid's name, even if they're not in their class. They don't care. They're going to know their name and they're going to care about them," explained 3rd-grader, Renee Bulman.
Renee was overjoyed to tell KRDO13 about her beautiful school and fantastic new park. She also explained how she didn't want to become the new kid at a new school, especially with the next elementary school being miles away.
"This school is a great school and the teachers are great. I just don't want it to close," said Renee Bulman.
A spokesperson for the district sent this statement in response:
Pueblo County School District 70 remains one of the lowest-funded districts in Colorado. Proposed changes to the state funding formula from the Governor’s office have forced the district to explore all options for reducing expenditures in response to declining state revenues and projected student enrollment. All preliminary cost-saving measures are being evaluated to identify potential solutions for addressing critical budget challenges and ongoing life-safety needs across the district. No decisions have been made.
A District 70 Spokesperson
