Mesa County Valley School District No. 51 officials provided a detailed update on the district's elementary school closure process, reporting staffing reallocations, inventory and moving logistics, and nearly $2.4 million in ongoing general-fund savings that the district says will be reallocated to rising operational costs.

District finance, human resources and operations staff told the Board of Education that closures and associated staffing changes recovered the equivalent of roughly 32.89 staff-salary equivalents (SSE) of unfunded positions identified in earlier projections and that the budgeted general-fund savings from the closure-related adjustments total nearly $2,400,000.

Al, the district's finance lead for the presentation, explained the state funding context: Colorado funds districts on counted enrollment and uses a mechanism commonly called student-count averaging to smooth declines; D51 received about $9.5 million this year above current student counts under a five-year averaging calculation that will shrink to four years next year and a proposed three-year calculation in 2026'27.

On staffing, Nikki reported 195 resignations or retirements systemwide since January. Licensed positions posted since mid-February include 106 elementary, 35 middle-school and 24 high-school openings; as of the last report the district recorded a small number of remaining openings for summer hiring. From closing schools, 10 licensed staff resigned or retired and 54 staff accepted positions in receiving schools; four licensed staff were non-renewed but remain eligible to apply for openings. Nikki said four nonprobationary teachers and two displaced administrators are currently listed as displaced and eligible for placement; support staff movement included eight resignations from closing schools and 39 who have accepted positions for next year.

Clint Garcia, operations lead, described building inventories, packing and staging plans: furniture and federally funded items have been tagged and inventoried, ConX boxes were issued to staff for packing, and movers and maintenance crews have been scheduled for removal and reinstallation of classroom fixtures. The district created a special staging area at Nisley Elementary for preschool materials and is using its internal "Marketplace" system so receiving schools can claim available furniture and supplies.

Teaching-and-learning staff and transition teams have worked with special-education and family-partnership teams to ensure continuity for students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), access and opportunity plans and multilingual-learner supports; the district said all students on plans from closing schools have been assigned and routed to receiving schools and that families have received direct contact and welcome outreach.

Board members asked operational questions about supports for receiving schools. A board member asked whether Fruitvale Elementary would get additional counseling resources for students arriving from closing schools; staff replied Fruitvale is a Title I school and may use its Title I allocation to provide extra supports, and that schools receive additional staffing tied to increased enrollment under the district staffing model.

The board and staff discussed how the $2.4 million in savings will be used: district leaders said the savings are built into the proposed budget and are being reallocated to higher costs in healthcare, transportation and other rising operational needs. The district reported remaining budget pressure and a projected shortfall of about $147,000 in the proposed budget at the time of the meeting.

Officials said the transition work continues over the summer and noted a two-day district summer institute and site visits that helped receiving schools plan classroom-level details and welcoming activities. The district thanked the D51 Foundation for funding field visits and welcome activities that helped students from closing schools meet teachers and visit receiving campuses.

No formal policy changes were adopted at the meeting; school-closure implementation and operational moves described in the presentation reflect actions already underway to align staff and facilities with current enrollment patterns.