Elementary Declining Enrollment Committee
On March 16, the District 51 Board of Education approved a resolution to move forward with forming a committee to address declining enrollment at the elementary school level. The committee will make a recommendation to Superintendent Dr. Hill no later than September 19, 2023.
The committee is specifically charged to:
- Continue the work already started
- Review data already presented
- Acquire additional data, if necessary
- Study all options, including the benefits, and ramifications of closing elementary schools
- Better educate the community on the issues surrounding the enrollment declines and the effects enrollment decline has on the District
- Develop recommendations to address declining student enrollment
Superintendent Dr. Hill, along with District 51 leaders, will facilitate the committee meetings. Committee members (28 in total) were invited to serve based on a variety of criteria. The committee is comprised of elementary teachers serving on the Superintendent Teacher Advisory Group, elementary principals who serve on the Superintendent Principal Advisory Group, family members from the District Accountability Committee and District Special Education Advisory Committee, community members from D51 Strategic Plan Priority Area Action Teams, community members and district staff from the District Minority Advisory Committee, members of entities in the community that the District collaborates with such as the City of Grand Junction, the City of Fruita, Mesa County, Grand Junction Chamber of Commerce, and Grand Junction Economic Partnership, two members from the District 51 Board of Education, members from the D51 Senior Leadership Team, and the D51 Department of Communications.
The group will meet twice a month in four-hour sessions through September in order to work together to develop a final recommendation, by the September 19, 2023 timeline.