By Amy Bounds, Camera Staff Writer April 23, 2003

The tears started falling even before the Boulder Valley school board voted Tuesday to close two central Boulder schools this fall as part of a controversial plan to save money and reduce empty seats.

The board voted 4-3 to close Base Line Middle School instead of Burbank Middle School, 5-2 to close historic Mapleton Elementary and 6-1 to keep 120-year-old Whittier Elementary School open. After the decisions, some parents vowed to send their children to private schools, and others talked about the possibility of legal action.

"It's pretty unbelievable," said Base Line parent Karyn Robinson, one of more than 80 parents who signed up to speak in opposition to the closures. "It was a vote in favor of selling Base Line."

The district is predicting an annual savings of up to $285,508 from closing Mapleton and up to $393,760 from closing Base Line, if the school is left empty. The board voted not to move New Vista High School to Base Line, but instead to leave the building empty, at least for now.

Some school board members are considering sell the Base Line building, possibly to the University of Colorado, to generate millions that could be used for capital - not operating - expenses.

With Tuesday's decision, the board has agreed to shut down three of the six schools originally proposed for closure by district staff. The district estimates the moves will save about $720,000 a year.

The board previously voted to close Washington Elementary and merge the school's bilingual program with the bilingual program at University Hill Elementary. District officials spared tiny mountain elementary schools in Gold Hill and Jamestown.

The justification for closing schools is an overall enrollment decline, excess capacity and a tight budget. The district is planning about $2.2 million in administrative cuts to help balance next year's budget. Several board members also cautioned that more schools could closed in the future if enrollment drops continue.

"As much passion as all of you have put into fighting as hard as you could for what you believed in, let's keep that alive," said school board member Julie Phillips. "We're going to all need to pull together just to save public education."

Burbank over Base Line

In voting to close Base Line against the recommendation of district staff, board member Stan Garnett said Burbank is the better building and enrolls the same number of students from its neighborhood as Base Line.

"It's a very, very close decision," he said.

Burbank is the smaller of the two middle schools, enrolling about 260 students this school year. Base Line enrolls about 420 students, but a little more than half its students open enroll from outside its attendance area for an arts "focus" program.

Board members Janusz Okolowicz, Angelica Schroeder and Jean Paxton joined Garnett in voting to close Base Line.

Mapleton shuttered

In deciding to close Mapleton, board members said they couldn't justify keeping open such a small school in an aging building. Mapleton enrolls about 140 students and was built for one class per grade level.

Phillips unsuccessfully lobbied for a one-year pilot of parent alternatives.

Parents said they were willing to cut costs through some staff reductions and to start a revenue generating, after-hours arts program. They also suggested combining their program with Whittier's so the two schools could share staff members and students between the two buildings.

"We are open to anything to stay open. ... Don't break up our neighborhood," said Mapleton parent Trish Koval. "Give us a chance."

Whittier survives

The board agreed to keep Whittier open to the delight of parents from the diverse school.

Board member Angelika Schroeder said she changed her mind and voted to keep the 240-student school alive because she heard from parents of some of Washington Elementary students who want their children to attend Whittier.

Another deciding factor was the pending authorization in the next few days of the school's International Baccalaureate program after three years of work by parents and teachers - another potential enrollment booster.

"The school is encouraging and celebrating (children) for their differences," said Whittier parent Maria Murillo. "It's unique school where diversity is really working."

Because Community Montessori Elementary will be displaced by the Washington and University Hill merger, the board voted to house Community Montessori's program at Columbine Elementary.