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Greeley School District No. 6 gets legislative preview on school finance, accountability and proposed graduation requirements
Summary
District staff briefed the Board of Education at its Jan. 13 work session on early bills and priorities in the 2025 Colorado legislative session, highlighting debate over multi-year enrollment averaging for school funding, accountability system changes, a possible financial-literacy graduation requirement and several other education bills.
GREELEY, Colo. — The Greeley School District No. 6 Board of Education on Jan. 13 heard a legislative preview that focused on potential changes to Colorado’s school finance formula, proposed accountability-system revisions, and several bills that could affect graduation requirements and school safety.
"The 2025 general assembly session kicked off last week," staff member Nate Fall told the board, providing a packet of bills and explaining the district’s process for tracking and responding to legislation. The presentation listed priorities from statewide education groups including the Colorado Association of School Boards and the Colorado Association of School Executives.
Board members were asked to consider three broad areas: school finance, systems of accountability, and school safety. Fall and other staff singled out a proposal to remove multi-year averaging of student counts from the school finance formula — a change they said could shift hundreds of millions of dollars in who gets state funding. Board members referenced figures discussed during the meeting, including a cited $190 million estimate tied to the averaging debate and a $750 million state budget shortfall.
"Averaging would not have harmed us," Dr. Pilch said when explaining how the district’s enrollment history would be affected; other participants noted inconsistent descriptions in the discussion (some comments referred to a five-year averaging practice while at one point a four-year figure was mentioned).
Why it matters: Districts that have benefited from averaging of enrollment across multiple years could see sharp funding reductions if averaging is removed, staff warned. Rural superintendents described to the board how even a small decline in students can translate into the loss of teaching positions and services in small districts.
The board also heard about a 108-page bill reported to change Colorado’s accountability and accreditation system. Fall said the draft would alter multiple components of how schools are assessed and named and that districts are watching for unintended consequences.
On school-safety policy, Fall summarized proposals to restrict use of facial-recognition technology in schools. The presentation noted that a statutory expiration for a current limitation is set for July 1 and that the ACLU is pushing to make a prohibition permanent; staff said some districts oppose an outright ban because they rely on the technology for security purposes.
Fall outlined other bills the district will monitor: House Bill 25-1038 to create a postsecondary credit-transfer website (staff recommended support), and House Bill 25-1037 proposing an income-tax credit of up to $1,000 for eligible teachers (staff recommended monitoring, noting the recurring fiscal concerns that have stalled similar measures in the past). Fall said the district will also watch proposals to require completion of the Colorado and federal financial-aid forms (FAFSA/CASFA) as a high school graduation requirement, and a likely push to add a financial-literacy requirement to graduation standards.
On Title IX, Fall told the board that a federal judge in Kentucky recently struck down the 2024 Title IX regulations; he said the district is reviewing whether to revert to earlier (2020) procedures and noted that Colorado law already provides strong protections for gender identity and expression.
Board members asked how quickly any new graduation requirements would have to be implemented; staff said an immediate rollout was unlikely and that any change would probably include a phase-in period to allow districts time to adopt curriculum and staffing. Fall also emphasized the board’s role in setting advocacy direction and invited members to provide priorities for staff and the district lobbyist to pursue.
The board did not take formal votes on policy positions at the Jan. 13 work session. Staff said they will continue to monitor bills, coordinate with the district’s lobbyist and statewide associations, and return with recommendations if the board wants formal positions.
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Votes at a glance: No formal motions or board votes on state legislation were taken during the Jan. 13 work session.
