NEDERLAND - On March 11, 2025, parents of Nederland Middle-Senior High School (NMSHS) students received notice that, due to Principal Gavan Goodrich retiring at the end of the school year, Nederland Elementary School (NES) Principal Caleb Melamed was to assume the position and oversee both schools. 

Robbyn Fernandez, Boulder Valley School District (BVSD) Assistant Superintendent of Schools, wrote: “In order to maintain continuity of leadership and K-12 articulation in the Nederland community, the appointment of Melamed as the K-12 principal of the Town’s two schools was approved this evening by the Board of Education.

“The leadership structure for the Elementary and NMSHS will therefore consist of one Principal, one Assistant Principal/Athletic Director at the NMSHS, and one Assistant Principal at the elementary school.”

This decision comes on the heels of BVSD experiencing budget restraints and the possible loss of $5 million in funding because of the state’s attempts at budget stabilization and the district’s declining student enrollment. As a result of this, many parents believe that the district’s unilateral decision foreshadows a potentially strained administration and staff, which will have a negative impact on their children’s education. 

To address the flood of questions and complaints coming from concerned parents, Fernandez and Melamed emailed statements to the community.

“In the coming weeks, staff members and families will have an opportunity to spend time with Principal Melamed to hear about his vision for community wide collaboration,” Fernandez wrote.

“In addition, we will be adding another Administrator to the elementary school and a Dean to NMSHS, rounding out a collaborative administrative team for the Town of Nederland that understands the unique qualities of the families and students in the community.”

Melamed wrote: “I am honored and humbled to have the opportunity to serve as the principal of the Nederland schools. As a graduate of these very schools I am deeply connected to the Nederland community and I understand the needs of our mountain community and our mountain schools.

“I am committed to collaborating with the dedicated staff at both schools, students, and families to ensure that the Nederland schools exemplify academic achievement and are vibrant and inclusive communities where all voices are heard and respected.

“I am eager to meet new families, to connect with families I already know, and to work alongside you to create the best possible experiences for our students.

“Together, we will continue to make our mountain community a place where everyone—students, families, and staff— thrive. Thank you for your trust and support as we embark on this exciting new chapter.”

April 1 Meet and Greet

In Melamed’s email to the community he announced two Meet-and-Greet events to be held with the community, the first of which was held on Tuesday, April 1, 2025, at NES.

Melamed was joined by Fernandez, BVSD’s Assistant Superintendent of Operations Rob Price, and by Tamara Acevedo, Executive Direct of the Northwest Network at BVSD.

The meeting began with Melamed introducing his vision for consistency from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, stating that his experience growing up in the Nederland community, combined with his track record as a consistent leader for the district, will help to foster an environment rich for academic success. 

Melamed spoke of conferring with Principal Goodrich and Assistant Principal/Athletic Director Sean Depaula, as well as with the staff of both schools, to create “line of sight” into both schools.

He also outlined how he hopes to build communication, trust, and collaboration with the community through the creation of a “Working Group,” which aims to be composed of administrators, teachers, and parents who will confer on vision planning, strategies, and actions for Nederland’s schools. 

It was stated that Melamed’s and the district’s goal was to be the highest performing and most “innovative” school system along the Front Range. It was said numerous times throughout the meeting that reaching this goal could only be done in unity with the community. 

A timeline was presented, indicating that interviews for the newly added Assistant Principal position at NES and the Dean position for NMSHS will be held on April 11 at the BVSD’s Education Center, at 6500 Arapahoe Road in Boulder.

It was clarified during the question and answer session of the meeting that, though the Assistant Principal positions are full-time, the Dean position is only “transitional.”

Also indicated on the timeline was Melamed’s intention to host smaller group meetings with staff at both schools throughout April, as well as to hold “social hours” for staff and roundtable discussions and “coffee with the Principal” meetings with the community. He also hopes to have the Working Group formed by the end of April.

Following Melamed’s short presentation, parents in attendance were asked to write their questions on note cards, which Melamed and the district representatives sorted by subject and filtered for repeat questions. 

Q & A

Though 16 parents were in attendance, one parent noted that those present for the meeting were representing many parents, and some NES staff, who did not feel comfortable attending or expressing their concerns to the district regarding the decision to have Melamed oversee both schools.

Apart from questions directed to Melamed concerning his leadership style and the strategies that he will employ once placed in charge of both schools, the other topics of inquiry included concerns about funding, requests for anonymity in parent and staff polling, and questions about the district’s decision-making process for this matter.

In response to questions about the district’s process in selecting a new NMSHS Principal, Fernandez highlighted the difficulties in staffing that Nederland schools have endured, while simultaneously praising Melamed’s strength as a consistent leader with ties to the community.

Fernandez interview

“Knowing what we know about Nederland schools, both schools have had a significant number of principals in recent years,” Fernandez said in an interview with The Mountain-Ear. It was noted during the meeting with parents that Nederland’s two schools have seen up to seven different principals in a span of 10 years.

“[Nederland’s] a complex place to lead and it has been very hard to create stability in leadership. Caleb is a proven leader at the elementary, is from the community, and is dedicated to the community in ways that would be very difficult to find in another leader.”

Melamed’s accomplishments were lauded during the meeting, as his work at NES over the last five years has helped to encourage Nederland students to become some of the highest-performing students in the district.

“The requirements of our principal hiring process is that we make recommendations to the superintendent,” Fernandez explained. “Sometimes we have a collaborative process that involves community members and staff members, and other times we have had a process much like the one we engaged in in the appointment of Caleb.

“Our superintendent made the recommendation to the Board of Education, and the Board approved Caleb’s appointment 7-0. They’re looking for strong, stable, leadership and for someone who understands the needs of the community and the complexities of leading someplace that is very different from down the hill.”

Parents expressed feeling blindsided by the district’s decision, considering that it was made without community input after district officials had previously stated, in response to concerns about Goodrich’s retirement, that the community would be included in the process.

Following Fernandez’s attempt to address the parents’ concerns that parents and school staff were reportedly not allowed to comment anonymously about this particular issue, parents pushed back on Fernandez’s answer that anonymously delivered information is less beneficial to the overall ability to have an effective dialogue.

Some parents voiced concerns about a culture of retribution that has existed in the Nederland school system that has affected students in the past, as well as has staff fearful of losing their jobs for speaking out.

As parents grew more frustrated over the district’s perceived lack of support for all voices, district officials stated that they take these concerns and allegations seriously, and inquired as to how they can better collaborate moving forward. But many parents felt that the district’s requests for collaboration were coming too late.

Parents’ concerns

“You did not ask for any collaboration to begin with, you just sort of whitewashed over everything,” one parent said passionately. “I don’t feel heard, and all those people who did not come tonight don’t feel heard and they don’t feel safe expressing it, nor do they trust that the process is going to work or make a difference.”

“The problem is, the rug was ripped out from under our feet,” another parent added. “An email was sent saying that there was going to be a genuine collaborative process and then there was a period of silence, and then there was a decision announced, and so the opportunity for collaborating was missed, and that breaks the trust.”  

Fernandez actively listened to the parents and acknowledged that she understood where the district had misstepped, and directly apologized for “surprising” the community with the way the district handled making the decision. 

The apology, though accepted, did not entirely appease the parents, as discussions that revolved around Boulder County’s lack of education funding once again led to division.

While the district proclaimed that consistency, collaboration, and innovation were the only way to ensure success, especially in the shadow of underfunding by the state and in an unstable federal landscape, parents stated their worries that Nederland schools will continue to be ignored until they were eventually shut down.

“About the money you’re allocating elsewhere to try and fix problems and make them better, again, Nederland is falling short; we just get another Band-Aid,” complained one parent, who addressed the district’s statements regarding there “never” being enough funding for their various needs. 

“We’ve been through this ‘innovation,’ and the community has gathered and actively worked with the board to find funding,” another parent said. “But the problem is that funding keeps getting chipped away, and what happens is that those innovative programs that we were promised have crumbled.”

Another parent added that they know of seven families, a total of 12 elementary-age students, who have recently decided to actively remove their kids from Nederland schools and enroll them in schools down the hill. 

Mayor’s action

Despite parents reiterating that the district's latest decision to have Melamed oversee both schools was, for many families, a final straw that has caused them to move out of Nederland, BVSD officials repeated the sentiment that the only way to persevere is by working together.

While Price suggested to the crowd not to engage in spreading toxicity about area schools and instead to attempt to encourage families to stay in Nederland, Mayor Billy Giblin stated that he is dedicated to creating childcare opportunities in hopes to make Nederland attractive to families again and to bolster school enrollment.

Giblin added that he, along with Trustee Tania Corvalan, intend to speak on Nederland’s behalf at BVSD’s upcoming meeting on Tuesday, April 8, 2025. 

Continue to follow The Mountain-Ear for updates on this matter as it develops, including reporting on the April 3 Meet and Greet event at NMSHS, and exclusive interviews with parents, school administrators, and BVSD representatives.

To apply to be on Melamed’s Working Group of administrators, teachers, and parents, fill out the application at: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScAZdNvbNE0cZUgIoCmeOWkLJQ7OkJuF01L55XJMIi29MJ3OQ/viewform