The Daily Sentinel says “ staffers at Fruita 8/9 School met with Mesa County Valley School District 51 administrators and received the news that the district plans to close the school after the coming spring semester. The District 51 Board of Education this past spring passed a resolution charging district administrators with reconfiguring Fruita’s grade system to align with the rest of the district, with eighth graders going to Fruita Middle School and ninth graders going to Fruita Monument High School. Since then, the district has been holding community meetings to gauge the thoughts of parents and staff as to whether this shift should go into effect for the 2024-2025 school year or the 2025-2026 school year.” Word has been around that staff will be fired but Hill said  “We talked to the staff about this last Friday, we would be working with the staff to help them find positions in buildings that may be in the Fruita area or may not, I want to clarify that all non-probationary staff are guaranteed a position next school year, so no one’s being fired. That’s part of our process. They would just be displaced and we would be working with them on finding positions within the school district.”  The plan is to relocate Fruita Middle School into the Fruita 8/9 School building, which Hill called a “much better-conditioned building” that can house three grades of students. Staff from Fruita Middle School would carry over. What’s next for Fruita 8/9 staff isn’t quite so clear, but Hill said “The district will do what it can to find 8/9 staff new jobs within the district.” Hill cited these statistics and emphasized that, since 2019, Fruita’s three secondary schools have seen an enrollment decline of about 423 students and it was decided that it’s best for the school to just close down.