Sara Sandstrom-Kobi, Nederland.  The Nederland Community for Educational Excellence held a meeting on July 16, 2018, to voice concerns and opinions to leaders in the Boulder Valley School District about the state of Nederland schools. This meeting was held in the hopes of being listened to by district leaders.

The Nederland Community for Educational Excellence (NCFEE) states that it is organization and action to reimagine educational excellence in Nederland, Colorado.

On Monday approximately 30 concerned parents and community members met with three district leaders. These leaders were Dr Rob Anderson, newly hired BVSD Superintendent, Kathy Gebhardt, board member, and Dr. Margaret Crespo, Assistant Superintendent for School Leadership. Meeting facilitator Mike McLaughlin started the meeting by presenting the declining enrollment numbers in Ned schools over the last 10 years. The discussion opened up to why this continues to happen. There was a general consensus that for many years Nederland parents have felt disconnected and left to fend for themselves when it comes to a relationship with BVSD. McLaughlin said, “Words are great, actions are better”.

Nederland schools need commitment and action from the district. In short, we are asking for some love from BVSD.

Parents came wanting to know what has happened to the EL model (Expeditionary Learning) that was presented to parents and teachers last year and now seems to have disappeared.

This educational model was received with much enthusiasm from parents. Dr. Anderson said that he talked with EL leaders that morning and because Nederland schools do not meet their requirement of a school population having 40% free and reduced lunch they will not pursue a partnership with Ned schools. This 40% free and reduced lunch requirement was not known to Ned school leaders when discussions with EL started. Dr. Anderson and the parents are open to looking at different models of education that would be a good fit in the community.

However, it was very clearly stated that we need something and we need it now.

This led parents to express the need for Nederland schools to have a clear strong identity that could draw more students to the school. And the district needs to create and support stability instead of allowing constant changes that lead to parents feeling like they need to fight every year to maintain what they have. Stability is needed with educational models, administrators and teachers. It was stated that the STEM educational model was proposed in 2012 and then dropped. There is bond money to improve our school buildings and that has been delayed. At this point, there is a crisis of confidence between parents in Nederland schools and BVSD. Jenny Nunemacher made an analogy using Charlie Brown, “We are like Charlie Brown with the football. We just want somebody to hold the football”. Dallas Masters added, “The district should be leading this and the community should be giving input, not leading it”. We are a rural school with issues very different from schools in eastern part of BVSD. We need BVSD to recognize this and make policies that will help us succeed.

Dr. Anderson listened, took notes and acknowledged that there are many complex problems.

He understands that the district needs to come to a sustainable solution that works in Nederland. Dr. Anderson has been the BVSD superintendent for nine days and said, “I won’t tell you today that I have a plan to fix it. I don’t, but I want to help”.

Parents left the gathering feeling that their concerns were listened to and acknowledged.

After years of little positive progress and declining numbers of students there is a sense of being cautiously optimistic.

To connect with NCFEE: http://tinyurl.com/NCFEE-GoogleGroup or http://tinyurl.com/NCFEE-Facebook.