Teachers, parents argue for speedier Beitel/Spring Creek consolidation
The Albany County School Board has scheduled a special meeting for next week to vote on an accelerated consolidation timeline. Closing Beitel is projected to save $4.5 million in the next half decade.
As the likely closure of Beitel Elementary School hangs over Albany County School District No. 1, parents and teachers across the district argue the timeline should be sped up.
During a public hearing last week, community members argued the district’s current plan — to shut down the school and move Beitel students to Spring Creek Elementary starting in 2025 — drags out the inevitable.
Spring Creek teachers, as well as parents from both Spring Creek and Beitel, said the two school communities should be integrated even sooner, in time for the first day of school next fall.
“Why are we waiting?” asked Abbey Hagerman, a mother of two Spring Creek students with a third slated to start kindergarten next year. “Why don't we do it right now?”
The Albany County School Board could soon give those teachers and parents what they’re asking for, having called a special meeting next Wednesday, April 24, to vote on that very issue.
Initial objections
Across Laramie, the school district is weathering a steep enrollment drop-off and is expected to lose about 300 more students — or the equivalent of a typical elementary school — in the next five years.
On top of this, the district still needs to cut about $1 million from its annual budget and is already gearing up to issue layoffs and cut programs.
The school board first floated the idea of closing Beitel in September, when Superintendent John Goldhardt listed that closure alongside several other cost-saving measures for consideration by the school board.
Members of the Beitel community filled that work session, voicing their opposition to the closure. Teachers argued Beitel had a close-knit community and said the discussion about closure seemed to come out of nowhere.
At that meeting, the board reiterated it would not take action for months but noted that “right-sizing” the district budget would require painful decisions.
A plan develops
Earlier this month, Goldhardt presented a more concrete plan for the school closure during a board work session. He estimated that closing the 70-year-old Beitel campus and redistributing its students to other schools — mainly to Spring Creek Elementary — would save the district $4.5 million in major maintenance costs across the next five years.
Goldhardt’s plan laid out a timeline that involved keeping Beitel students in place for one more year, during which community-building events attended by both Beitel and Spring Creek students would bring the kids together. For the 2024-2025 school year, Beitel and Spring Creek would share a principal, staff meetings and staff development, but students would still attend both schools. Beitel students would enroll in Spring Creek or other schools starting in the fall of 2025.
Public hearing
Contrary to earlier arguments that the closure should be halted altogether, both teachers and parents — especially those from Spring Creek, but many from Beitel as well — are now arguing the consolidation should begin sooner.
The school board hosted a public hearing last week to gather community input on the plan to close Beitel.
Kendra Ahrenholtz, a Spring Creek Kindergarten teacher, was one of several Spring Creek employees to voice their support for a faster timeline. Ahrenholtz argued the district should bring Beitel students to Spring Creek this upcoming fall instead of the following fall.
“The Spring Creek staff is in favor of consolidation,” she said. “Consolidation will benefit students and staff at both Spring Creek and Beitel elementary schools. If that does not happen next year, it will create significant hardship for our school community that directly affects the mental health of our staff and students. If we do not consolidate next year, it is of the utmost importance the district has a plan in place to support students and staff at Spring Creek.”
Spring Creek recently lost its GATE and PLS students, who have both been moved to Indian Paintbrush. It’s also seen its overall student enrollment drop by nearly 80 students in the last two years. Spring Creek teachers argued during the public hearing their school would feel empty during the buffer year.
Rachel Huston, a first grade teacher, encouraged the board to let Beitel students join the Spring Creek community as soon as possible.
“A school that was once bursting at the seams with staff and students is now a school with no programs, limited support staff, and barely enough remaining staff to run the school and support students,” she said.
Most commenters argued the district should speed up the consolidation, moving current Beitel students to Spring Creek for the start of the fall 2024 semester. They argued sharing resources across two campuses for a whole year would be taxing and inefficient.
“Why in the world are we postponing combining the two schools?” asked Kristine Ninneman, a mother of two boys at Spring Creek Elementary and the president of that school’s PTO. “Why, when there's a better solution, are we participating in dragging it all out? … There's still time and there are many people willing and able to make it happen.”
Special meeting
The commenters arguing for a speedier consolidation could receive what they are requesting.
On Monday, just a few days after the public hearing, Albany County School District No. 1 announced its board will host a special meeting April 24 at 6 p.m. “for the purpose of discussion and a vote on the closure of Beitel Elementary School effective for the 2024-2025 school year.”
That special meeting will take place in the School Administration Building at 1948 Grand Avenue and streamed live via the district’s YouTube channel.