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Tag: Colorado Education

Dogs Help Evergreen Students Find Calm And Connection After School Shooting
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CBS Colorado, Approved, Local

Dogs Help Evergreen Students Find Calm And Connection After School Shooting

By Brian Maass | CBS Colorado A year ago, Evergreen High School was the scene of chaos and fear. Today, the Colorado school has two new members of its community — two dogs whose presence has become part of the daily rhythm of the school, offering students and staff something they desperately needed after a shooting shattered their sense of safety. On Sept. 10, 2025, a 16-year-old Evergreen High School student opened fire, shooting two other students before fatally shooting himself. Both wounded students survived. The shooting sent students scrambling from the school and brought hundreds of law enforcement officers to the foothills campus. A year later, the physical evidence of that day has largely disappeared. The memories have not. ...
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Jeffco Schools Chief Counsel to Retire During High-Stakes Title IX Fight With Feds
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Jeffco Schools Chief Counsel to Retire During High-Stakes Title IX Fight With Feds

By Matt Kyle | The Denver Gazette As Jeffco Public Schools continues to fight a legal battle with the federal government, it will soon be without its top attorney. Julie Tolleson, chief legal counsel for the district, will retire at the end of the current school year, according to a letter sent to district staff Tuesday by interim Superintendent Rob Stein. Tolleson has been known among Jeffco staff as a “common sense” attorney who used her legal expertise to uphold student rights, Stein wrote in the letter. He also praised Tolleson for avoiding “unnecessary controversy” during her tenure. “Julie’s legal acumen will be hard to replace,” Stein wrote. “Her wisdom and perspective will be missed.” Tolleson has been with Jeffco since 2022. Her tenure ha...
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Castle Rock Council Approves New School Land Rules Despite District Concerns
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CBS Colorado, Approved, Local

Castle Rock Council Approves New School Land Rules Despite District Concerns

By Olivia Young | CBS Colorado Douglas County School District is grappling with a change in law in one of its most populous communities. The Castle Rock Town Council passed an ordinance Tuesday night changing the way land and funds dedicated to schools are allocated. Historically, developers have dedicated land or funding for future public schools. The town holds these assets until the district is ready to build a school, but now the district will need to meet certain conditions and timelines, or the land may be used for other purposes. There are currently 13 sites in Castle Rock planned for schools. The ordinance cites "changing demographic trends, school enrollment patterns, and long-range capital planning" as reasons many of them may not be developed into schools fo...
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Federal Judge Dismisses Lawsuit as Colorado School Districts Lack Standing in Transgender Sports Case
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Greeley Tribune, Approved, State

Federal Judge Dismisses Lawsuit as Colorado School Districts Lack Standing in Transgender Sports Case

By Ann Schimke | Greeley Tribune Federal judge rules districts don’t have standing to sue the state, in part because they aren’t facing clear harm. A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by several Colorado school districts and charter schools over policies related to transgender student athletes. Senior U.S. District Court Judge John Kane ruled Wednesday that the districts and schools don’t have standing to sue the state, in part because they aren’t facing clear harm. The ruling is a win for the state and a loss for the conservative-leaning districts and schools that had challenged the state’s non-discrimination law, specifically its gender identity protections. Kane’s decision affirmed a January recommendation by a magistrate judge, a type...
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Colorado Schools Face New Reality as Student Enrollment Keeps Falling
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Colorado Schools Face New Reality as Student Enrollment Keeps Falling

By Nicole C. Brambila | The Denver Gazette Colorado public schools went from adding roughly 3,500 students a year before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 to losing nearly 4,000 students a year afterward. As more than 870,000 Colorado students return to the classroom for another school year, they are part of a shrinking population since enrollment peaked in 2019. Colorado has 40,000 fewer students today than it did at its apex. The Denver Gazette compared districts’ average annual enrollment gains or losses in the five years before and after the pandemic to identify where enrollment trends changed the most. The forces that long fueled Colorado’s enrollment boom — births and migration — have lost momentum. Nationally, enrollment peaked in 2019 with 50.7 millio...
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Douglas County School Board To Put $54 Million Tax Request Before Voters in November
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Douglas County School Board To Put $54 Million Tax Request Before Voters in November

By Nicholas Fogleman | The Denver Gazette The Douglas County School District board unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday to place a $54 million mill levy override on the November ballot, sending the funding request to voters after months of discussion about the district’s financial challenges. The proposed override comes as school districts across the Denver metro area grapple with budget pressures. Jefferson County Public Schools recently approved a $133 million mill levy override request for voters, citing similar concerns about funding and rising operational costs. The largest portion of Douglas County’s proposed measure, $21.4 million, would be dedicated to increasing compensation for teachers and staff by 4%. Throughout recent discussions, Superintenden...
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Enos: As a new school year opens, Colorado tests the limits of parental rights
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Christian Home Educators of Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

Enos: As a new school year opens, Colorado tests the limits of parental rights

By Colleen Enos | Commentary, Christian Home Educators of Colorado (CHEC) “Don’t you love New York in the fall? It makes me want to buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address.” This recognizable quote by the character Joe Fox from the famous rom-com You’ve Got Mail reminds us that it is back-to-school season. Your family may have already begun the 2026-27 school year, or you could be holding out for another week or so. If you are brave homeschoolers, your family’s school year will begin after Labor Day.   Numerous families homeschool so that they can infuse their teaching with a Christian worldview. We rightly want our children to understand the world through the lens of our Creator. Our rights as...
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Jade’s escape: From a government-assigned school to a Jesuit work-study education
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Wayne's Word, Approved, Commentary, State

Jade’s escape: From a government-assigned school to a Jesuit work-study education

By Wayne Laugesen | Commentary, Wayne's Word A quiet war rages in Colorado classrooms. The casualties are almost always the children of the poor, ethnic and racial minorities. For decades, defenders of our state’s public education monopoly have built a fortress around zip-code budgeting. They tell low-income parents to wait for the next tax hike or bureaucratic restructuring. But a young Denver girl named Jade didn’t have time to wait. Her childhood—her prime learning years—was ticking away. Trapped by GeographyJade grew up in a low-income household where ambition ran high but financial options ran dry. In her government-assigned school, she faced a system designed for uniformity rather than excellence.Wealthy families simply write a check for private tuition. For Jade’...
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Kindergarten sex ed at Colorado district challenged over explicit content, letter says
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The Western Journal, Approved, Commentary, Local

Kindergarten sex ed at Colorado district challenged over explicit content, letter says

By Samuel Short | Commentary, The Western Journal A Colorado school board is proving once again that the left truly relishes in talking to young children about sex. In a letter from the Alliance Defending Freedom to the Roaring Fork Schools Board of Education, Director Katherine L. Anderson of the Center for Parental Rights noted some truly disturbing and graphic imagery that children are seeing as part of the 3Rs curriculum, a comprehensive program to teach about sexuality. The Rs in question refer to “Rights, Respect, Responsibility” according to the website of its creator, Advocates for Youth. The curriculum “seeks to address both the functional knowledge related to sexuality and the specific skills necessary to adopt healthy behaviors. Rights, Respect, ...
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Cherry-picking the rankings: A columnist’s case against Polis education claim
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Complete Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

Cherry-picking the rankings: A columnist’s case against Polis education claim

By Ari Armstrong | Commentary, Complete Colorado Colorado ranks 47th in crime and corrections, 45th in fiscal stability, and 39th in opportunity, according to U.S. News and World Report, Governor Jared Polis noted in July. Ha ha, just kidding! Polis proclaimed that “Colorado Ranked #1 in Education,” ignoring the low rankings in other categories and downplaying the fact that most Colorado students cannot read or do math at grade level according to state testing. You can see the U.S. News rankings for yourself. Colorado ranks as 17th “best state overall,” which I guess is kind of good? I mean, it’s the top half, right? Okay, sure, we got beat by Wyoming, Wisconsin, and Delaware, while our neighbor Utah took the #1 spot. Not embarrassing at all! Cherry pick...
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