Understanding School Funding, State Decisions, and What Comes Next

Across Colorado, school districts are entering a period of significant financial uncertainty.

At the center of this is a projected $1.4 billion gap (yes, that is with a B) in the state budget. Lawmakers in Denver are working to close that gap, but they have not solved it.

Some of the decisions made at the state level have already affected our community.

Over the past year, many of you have seen increases in your property taxes. A natural assumption is that when taxes go up, local schools receive more funding.

That is not what is happening.

Those property tax increases are part of the Colorado Legislature’s effort to address its own financial challenges. That revenue goes to the state, not to Garfield Re-2. We did not see a dollar more of your local property taxes into Garfield Re-2 School District.

At the same time, public education makes up a significant portion of the state budget. As lawmakers work to close a $1.4 billion gap, it is likely that K–12 education will be impacted moving forward.

That creates a difficult reality for school districts.

In Garfield Re-2, about 80% of our budget is dedicated to people, including teachers, support staff, transportation, food service, and the many individuals who support students every day.

We are also the 145th-funded district out of 178 in Colorado, meaning we operate with fewer resources than most districts across the state.

To maintain stability for students and staff, we have been operating at an annual deficit of approximately $2 million. This has been an intentional decision to protect classrooms and people, but it is not sustainable long-term.

At the same time, we have taken significant steps to manage costs and operate as efficiently as possible.

Over the past two years, we have reduced district-level spending, tightened non-salary budgets, renegotiated contracts, and improved how we manage resources across the organization. These efforts have resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings each year.

Our schools and departments are also managing budgets more closely than ever. Last year, we only spent about 90% of our non-salary budgets.

We have managed staffing changes through attrition rather than layoffs, and we remain one of the leanest districts in the state in administrative spending, with just 1.1% of our budget going toward administration.

These actions reflect a clear priority: protecting classrooms, supporting staff, and being responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars.

Even with those efforts, we continue to face rising costs and ongoing uncertainty at the state level, in a system where local tax increases do not result in more funding for local schools.

So the question becomes, what can we control?

The answer is very little at the state level.

What we can control is local.

School funding in Colorado is complex and often misunderstood.

Many people believe school districts receive the same amount of money per student. That is not the case.

The Colorado Legislature sets school funding through a formula that includes a base amount per student, along with factors like enrollment, cost of living, and student needs. The result is wide variation between districts.

Importantly, the recent increase in property taxes did not increase that amount for Garfield Re-2. For our district, the majority of funding comes from the state. When local property tax revenue increases, the state typically reduces its share to maintain the formula.

At the same time, we are navigating real challenges here at home.

Housing costs continue to impact our ability to recruit and retain staff. We are the largest early childhood provider in Garfield County, serving approximately 360 young learners, and we have a growing wait list and limited space to educate them. At the secondary level, we are expanding career pathways to better prepare students for life after graduation. Our students deserve dedicated instructional space to develop those skills that will serve them in their next journey.

All of this work is happening during a period of significant financial pressure.

As we look ahead, it is important to understand that the only area truly controlled by our community is local voter-approved funding.

That includes tools like mill levy overrides and bonds. These are decisions made locally, by our voters, to support priorities in our schools. These are dollars that can not be taken from us by the power mongers in Denver.

We are beginning to have conversations with our community to see if these tools are the right ones, at the right time, to continue our momentum and help every learner in Garfield Re-2 reach their full potential.

Garfield Re-2 will continue to plan carefully, manage resources responsibly, and communicate openly about what lies ahead.

But we will also be clear about this reality:

Decisions made in Denver are impacting local communities, including ours. Property taxes have increased, but that increase is not translating into additional funding for our schools.

As we look forward, the most important conversations will be the ones we have together as a community about what we value, what we prioritize, and how we choose to support our schools moving forward.

We invite you to learn more and share your ideas at an upcoming community meeting at the Garfield Re-2 District Office. Our next meetings will be Thursday, April 23 and Thursday, May 14 both beginning at 6 p.m. We welcome your thoughts and input.