A proposal to restructure two elementary schools in Cortez drew many concerned comments from an audience of about two dozen at a town hall Monday night.
Montezuma-Cortez School District Re-1 is considering making Mesa Elementary into a kindergarten-through-second-grade campus and Kemper Elementary into a school for third through fifth grades.
District administrators say this reorganization would provide greater financial efficiency, saving about $136,000. They also say it would better align the two schools’ curricula. A member of the District Accountability Committee, Tegan Lewis, presented information at the town hall. She said students from Kemper and Mesa are reportedly arriving at Cortez Middle School with different levels or types of learning.
Audience members, many of whom were teachers or staff, said the change would mean larger class sizes. Some said transportation could be a problem for parents whose children would now be in two different schools and this might lead them to home-school or leave the district. Several said it’s good for young children to be with their older siblings and older kids in general.
Many people said transitions such as changing schools can be detrimental to children’s academic performance. The comments from the town hall are to be given to the school board, which is to vote on the reorganization in September.
Information about the proposed restructuring is on the district’s website at https://www.cortez.k12.co.us/our-district/board-of-education/elementary-reorganization
KSJD Local Newscast - May 20, 2025
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