Parents in the community surrounding Linton Elementary School in Fort Collins are continuing to fight back after learning their children’s school could be closed. Parents say they have been given no adequate time to argue their case as to why the school should remain open.
In 2023, the Poudre School District announced its plans to close or consolidate several schools in the district due to declining enrollment and budget issues.
The district was met with backlash and protests from students and parents, which resulted in PSD asking a team of volunteers to formulate a new set of options for the district to consider.
None of the initial proposals involved Linton being closed. Then, last week, families suddenly learned all of the new proposals from the volunteers included Linton closing.
“We had no idea that was going to happen. We were completely blindsided,” said Ty Goodwin, a parent. “Everything caught us off guard.”
Goodwin and many of her fellow school parents, have taken it upon themselves to vocalize their concerns with the sudden proposals to close Linton.
“We were under the impression that they would be revisions of the first scenairos, in which Linton was not closing in any of them,” Goodwin said. “Closing schools shouldn’t be the first option. It should be the very-very last option.”
Goodwin said her peers helped create a visual campaign to inform their community of what was happening. Those involved enlisted SpeedPro Imaging in Fort Collins to create banners and yard signs to educate the surrounding community of the potential closure.
CBS News Colorado’s Dillon Thomas spoke with several community members, all of whom said they intentionally purchased their homes near Linton for the accessibility to the school.
“We can’t roll over because our school matters. The community matters. These kids matter,” Goodwin said.
“We live in Fort Collins, Colorado, one of the most beautiful suburban communities in the country. All of our children should have the opportunity to safely walk or bike to school,” Goodwin said.
