Superintendent Update September 23, 2024

Good Evening TSD Community,

I am sending this message to provide a few timely updates:

At tonight's District Accountability we discussed Educational Funding and the implications of HB24-1448.  The presentation from the meeting can be found at this link:  9.23.2024 DAC Presentation.  I will also be holding a Coffee Talk with the Superintendent Tuesday morning, September 24 at Baked in Telluride for anyone who wants to further understand the implications of HB24-1448 on our future funding.  

Related to this, two major education research companies have been contracted by the state to help study the adequacy of education funding in Colorado.

• The American Institutes for Research (AIR) was awarded a contract by the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) to evaluate the State’s public education funding system and make recommendations for improvements that would provide an equal educational opportunity for all students.  To support this effort, AIR, in collaboration with CDE, is reaching out to stakeholders in Colorado to discuss critical issues in K-12 school funding. Please help by completing the following survey:  Colorado Financial Adequacy Study website; you can take the survey and register for a virtual town hall. More information can be found on the AIR project website. If you have any questions, please contact the AIR Team at ColoradoSchoolFunding@air.org.
• Augenblick, Palaich and Associates, Inc. (APA) and Afton Partners (Afton) are partnering with the Colorado Department of Education to determine the costs necessary to provide elementary and secondary students an education that meets the state’s educational goals. As part of this effort, APA is reaching out to members of the public (students, parents, educators, district and school leaders, community members, business groups, advocates, and policymakers) to ensure that their perspectives on resources, staffing, and programs in schools are considered as part of this work.  Responding to this survey will help state policymakers better understand the voices of the Colorado public on what they value at their school and the resources they would prioritize if additional funding was available to their school.  This survey should take no more than 5 minutes to complete and the survey will be open until September 30, 2024.  If you have any questions or concerns about participation in the survey, please contact apasurvey@aftonpartners.com