This information was compiled by Crest View second grade mother Kristi Anderson, who also has a fourth grader. Crest View’s fourth grade has had large class size issues the past several years as well. Received 9/2/2005.

Crest View

Many parents have voiced concern over the overcrowding of Crest View’s Second Grade. This is not just a second grade issue. This impacts all Crest View students.

Issues that face Crest View:

• Foothills Elementary School, when their class lists were posted 2 days before school started had 87 students listed as enrolled in second grade yet they were divided into 4 full time classes. Foothills profile is 4.3% Free/Reduced lunch and 0.6% English language learners. On this same day Crest View had 86 students enrolled in second grade with only 3 teachers. Crest View’s profile is 23.6 free/reduced lunch and 18% English language learners.
• Crest View’s free and reduced lunch participants have increased from 12.6% in 1999 to 23.6% in 2004. This number is expected to increase in the 2005 school year. BVSD uses these percentages to target schools that need additional assistance. These figures were obtained from BVSD School Profiles 2004. This publication is put out by BVSD Department of Planning, Engineering and Construction.
• Six years ago, BVSD identified 8 school based on free and reduced lunch percentages. These schools were given lower class size ratio’s – 18 to 1 for second grade. Last year Crest View’s free and reduced lunch participants surpassed one of the 8 targeted schools and has very similar demographics to another targeted elementary – these are Ryan and Lafayette Elementary Schools. Yet Crest View has not been approved to receive additional assistance in the form of smaller class sizes from BVSD. These figures were obtained from BVSD School Profiles 2004.
• The school district does not plan on redistricting for several more years. Redistricting changes school boundaries. Historically when these boundaries change current families and future siblings are allowed to stay at their current school. It would take years after the redistricting to impact Crest View’s enrollment.
• On 8/31/05 Sherri Williams called and stated that she and Joe Sleeper would be coming to Crest View to look for addition classroom space. I received an email from her on 9/01/05 indicating that they have decided not to do this until Crest View’s 2nd grade reaches 92 students.

Crest Views overcrowding is a result of many factors:

• The closing of Washington Bilingual School has permanently removed that as an open enrollment option for Crest View Families.
• Moving Community Montessori from Uni Hill to Columbine brought more students back to Crest View.
• The following year, moving Community Montessori from Columbine to South Boulder brought even more students back to Crest View.
• One of University Hills programs failed to meet academic standards this year. These students were allowed to move back to their neighborhood schools.
• Crest View is located in an area of Boulder that is still growing with new housing developments which results in more children moving into Crest View’s boundaries.
• Currently over 200 students in within Crest View’s boundaries open enroll to other schools in the district. The above changes have removed many options for families. This can have a significant impact on Crest View’s enrollment in the future.
• Crest View’s current student enrollment is 506 students. This is very close to maximum capacity for the school.

If you would like to be kept informed on these issues and/or put in contact with other parents who have similar concerns, send an email to: kristi.anderson@comcast.net or call 303 245 8008.
On a personal note, I believe that Crest View is a fabulous school which is in need of immediate class size reduction to keep it on track. Crest Views rapidly changing demographics put it at exceptionally high risk of crossing the tipping point that has occurred at other schools in our district. Restoring a school after the fact has proven extremely difficult. I have sent emails to the people listed below regarding my concerns. I have had long conversations with many of them as well. Crest View deserves to maintain its high academic standards and keep the great diversity that is currently has –we need help to ensure this happens.

Who to contact to voice your concerns regarding Crest View

:
Sheri Williams – BVSD Director of School Leadership
Don Orr – BVSD Director of Planning & Construction
Roger Hammond – BVSD COO
Joe Sleeper – BVSD C.O.O.
George Garcia – Superintendent of Schools
Julie Phillips – School Board President
Teresa Steele – School Board V.P.
Angelika Schroeder – School Board Member
Chris King – BVSD Educational Programs
Helayne Jones – School Board Member helayne.jones@bvsd.org
Jean Paxton – School Board Member ,
Ken Roberge – School Board Member
Stan Garnett – School Board Member
Ned Levine – Crest View Principal

*Ned will be sending home a note on Friday indicating that they are aware of the issues and that they will closely watch class size. Para pro hours will be given to make up for class sizes of 30 and more. This is a band aid – it is not a solution. Parent’s voices need to be heard. Without input from all of you nothing will be done until student numbers reach 92 in second grade.

2004 Profiles for Crest View, Ryan, Lafayette and Foothills Elementary Schools
Crest View
Category Percentage

Female… 50 %
Male… 50 %
African-American… 2.2 %
American Indian… 0.2 %
Asian… 8.1 %
Caucasian… 69 %
Hispanic… 20.4 %
Free Lunch… 20.4 %
Reduced Lunch… 3.2 %
English Language Learners… 18 %
Special Education… 11.7 %

Ryan
Category Percentage

Female… 50.7 %
Male… 49.3 %
African-American… 3.4 %
American Indian… 1.6 %
Asian… 3.7 %
Caucasian… 71.8 %
Hispanic… 19.6 %
Free Lunch… 15.7 %
Reduced Lunch… 3.9 %
English Language Learners… 8.4 %
Special Education… 14.1 %

Lafayette
Category Percentage

Female… 48.9 %
Male… 51.1 %
African-American… 3.6 %
American Indian… 0.9 %
Asian… 4.2 %
Caucasian… 70.9 %
Hispanic… 20.4 %
Free Lunch… 19.5 %
Reduced Lunch… 8.1 %
English Language Learners… 13.5 %
Special Education… 18.3 %

Foothills
Category Percentage

Female… 48.4 %
Male… 51.6 %
African-American… 0.9 %
American Indian… 0.2 %
Asian… 3 %
Caucasian… 93.3 %
Hispanic… 2.6 %
Free Lunch… 3 %
Reduced Lunch… 1.3 %
English Language Learners… 0.6 %
Special Education… 9.3 %