Pitkin County funds school mental‑health and SRO support for Roaring Fork schools and Marble Charter; board to consider annualizing support

Pitkin County staff briefed commissioners June 24 on a one‑time budget supplemental approved last year that funded school‑based mental‑health resources and school resource officer (SRO) support for Roaring Fork School District campuses and the Marble Charter School. County staff recommended moving future contributions into the annual budget cycle rather than relying on supplemental appropriations.

Levi Bourse, management analyst in the county manager’s office, said the $103,695 supplemental — approved by the board last year and paid out during the 2024‑25 school year — allocated funds to Roaring Fork and Marble based on a per‑pupil parity with existing contributions to the Aspen School District. “To make this as apples‑to‑apples as I could, we…looked at what we were currently doing for the Aspen School District and applied the same per‑pupil contribution rate,” Bourse said.

Why it matters: the funds were intended to preserve mental‑health staffing in schools and to support SRO coverage where local districts identified gaps. County staff said making the contribution part of the county’s base budget would give partner districts greater certainty while aligning timing with the county’s annual budget process.

Details of the previous supplemental and funding logic - Calculation and amounts: county staff used Pitkin County’s per‑pupil contribution to the Aspen School District as the baseline. Staff reported 355 Pitkin County students attend Roaring Fork District schools; applying the per‑pupil rate produced a requested amount for Roaring Fork; 13 Pitkin County students attend Marble Charter School and that generated the Marble amount. The total supplemental request approved was $103,695 and staff reported the payment was processed in the first quarter of the county fiscal cycle. - How payments were processed: county staff said the Roaring Fork School District and Marble Charter School received funds as payees through county contract/procurement processes. Staff described the Aspen arrangement as different because Aspen’s SROs are county deputies covered through the sheriff’s intergovernmental agreement.

Board discussion and next steps Commissioners asked whether the floating SRO position properly covers the schools and whether the county is the appropriate funding partner. Sheriff’s coverage and SRO staffing remain the sheriff’s operational responsibility; the county’s contribution is a funding partner to preserve staffing and mental‑health services. County staff recommended including similar contributions in the 2026 base budget so districts could plan earlier and avoid year‑end supplementals.

“Eventually this should be built into the annual budget process,” a commissioner said, referencing the need for predictability for partner districts. Staff said they will prepare a recommended budget treatment and, if the board wants, produce an IGA or grant contract specifying use of funds that preserves school‑based mental‑health positions and SRO staffing.

What the board approved earlier Bourse told the board that the supplemental for $103,695 was approved in the previous cycle and has been paid out for the 2024‑25 school year; during the June 24 conversation he sought direction on whether the BOCC prefers to include similar appropriations in the coming year’s budget instead of relying on supplementals.

Ending: Commissioners signaled interest in folding recommended support into the regular 2026 budget and asked staff to bring a budget‑phase proposal and suggested contract language to confirm how funds will be used and to preserve the mental‑health positions for Pitkin County students.