School districts in urban, suburban and rural parts of Colorado fear serious funding cuts—amounting to as much as 30% of their total budget—that could force tough decisions next year under Gov. Jared Polis’ latest budget proposal.
The prospect of less funding for those districts adds another complication to the school finance puzzle as district leaders in the upcoming months begin piecing together their budgets. Not only are districts grappling with rising costs driven by inflation, but they have also had to figure out how to sustain—or eliminate—programs, resources and staff positions they funded with federal COVID relief dollars that expired in September.
The school finance outlook for most Colorado districts began to appear brighter last year after state leaders committed to paying down a debt owed to schools, commonly called the budget stabilization factor, worth $141 million. State officials also adopted a new funding formula that set out to boost education funding by about $500 million.
Read more at The Colorado Sun.
