DENVER — Governor Jared Polis is proposing changes to how students in Colorado are counted, in an effort to slash the education budget by $147 million for the next fiscal year. On Thursday, several district leaders and others testified at a legislative hearing hoping to convince leaders not to cut funding.
The governor is proposing using a single year student count to determine per-pupil funding for a district. The current method uses a 5-year average of student enrollment, intended to smooth over any sudden declines or increases in enrollment. The governor has said this will mean the state is funding an inaccurate number of students.
Cherry Creek School District Chief Financial Officer Scott Smith testified Thursday that this change could mean a huge cut for smaller districts if even two students were to leave.
“Some of those school districts are funded at $25,000 a student because of how small they are, so now they have to cut the equivalent of a teacher salary when nothing has changed at that school,” Smith said, noting that some small schools have just one class per grade. If two students leave, the school would still need that teacher for the rest of the students in the class.
Districts across Colorado are facing a trend of declining enrollment, leading many to close schools in recent years. Smith said they’re willing to talk about declining enrollment with state leaders, but that underfunding schools shouldn’t be a quick fix for a budget shortfall.
“We want a seat at the table and we want to discuss good policy, not just we need to rip this band-aid off in order to make this budget work,” Smith said.
The state budget likely won’t be finalized and approved until March or April.
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