With spring just around the corner, The Roaring Fork School District is ready to begin its next phase of restoring fiscal stability.

In January, the Board of Education approved a revised budget for the 2024/25 school year that addressed a $7.78 million shortfall, which resulted from a combination of issues including additional expenses from the district’s previous self-insurance health plan, overestimations of student enrollment, and issues with the budget development that created significant financial gaps. 

Through the dedicated leadership of Chief Financial Officer Christy Chicoine, savings identified by district leaders, careful use of general reserves, and savings from the Meadowood Staff Housing project, we successfully balanced the budget for this school year.

On behalf of the board and district leadership, we are so grateful to all the staff members who worked hard to resolve this issue. When we began the work to address challenges this past fall, we heard clearly from the board, the finance committee, staff, and community that the most important priority was minimizing impact on students. While the revised 24/25 budget still requires careful monitoring, I believe it has succeeded in shielding students, schools, staff and families from significant impacts to programs and services. 

A critical piece of the puzzle was resolving the previous self-insurance health care coverage issue. The district will be prepared to pay its final expenses at the end of the 2024/25 school year and close this chapter. We have returned employees to a traditional health care plan.

As part of our continued commitment to rebuilding a strong, accountable, and transparent financial system, the Board of Education received a presentation at its February meeting that summarized the errors that led to our financial issues and the concrete steps we have taken to address each area. There is much work ahead but I am confident that we are building the right systems, processes, and teams to get us there. We will continue our policy of transparency and keep the public informed throughout this process. You can always visit the District’s website for updates. 

We’re now ready to move on and build the 25/26 budget. As we move forward, there will be additional financial challenges, but these are challenges that school districts across the region and state are also preparing for – we are not alone. Our focus is on the following:

• Declining enrollment. With the anticipated drop in student numbers over the next several years, we must budget and plan conservatively.
• Cost of health care. While our payments are now fixed and risk is mitigated, healthcare costs in the valley continue to rise, dramatically impacting budgets of school districts across our region.
• Public education finance changes. We anticipate changes at both state and federal levels that will impact school funding and are monitoring those shifts.

At our Feb. 12 school board meeting, we forecasted these challenges and shared our first plan to resolve issues in 25/26. We continue to prioritize high-quality learning environments for students, support for families, and job security for staff as we address funding shortfalls. 

At the administrative level, we’ve focused intently on resolving financial issues this school year. Even so, we are steadily making progress on the implementation of our 2024-2029 strategic plan. As further evidence that we are turning a corner on financial issues, the February 20, 2025 Board of Education meeting focused on the strategic plan – not the budget. We have launched a public-facing data dashboard available on the RFSD website that will strengthen transparency and accountability to the commitments we’ve made through the strategic plan and its priorities: Students First, Rigorous Instruction for All, Operational Excellence, Student-centered Partnerships and Thriving Team. Check it out!

Spring is just around the corner. The class of 2025 is finalizing graduation requirements, presenting Capstone projects , and beginning the countdown to graduation. The class of 2038 is enrolling in Kindergarten during this spring’s open enrollment period. Student-athletes are anxious for fields and tracks to dry. Thespians are on stage, musicians are preparing for spring concerts. Students across the district are gearing up for end of year state testing and the opportunity to demonstrate their learning. Despite the significant challenges we’re facing, every day 5600 students are growing, learning, and thriving in the Roaring Fork Schools. Educators and staff are working together to create welcoming, rigorous, and supportive learning environments. The good work and our commitment to serving students and the community continues. We’re ready for spring. 

Dr. Anna Cole is superintendent of the Roaring Fork District Schools in Glenwood Springs, Carbondale and Basalt.