Woodland Park school board approves FY25 adjustment tied to Merit Academy sharing transportation and COP costs

The Woodland Park School District RE-2 board voted to approve a FY25 financial adjustment that rescinds a $437,000 one-time charge and ties future district reimbursements to an agreement for Merit Academy to pay its proportional share of transportation and COP costs beginning in fiscal year 2026. The motion, introduced by the district finance team, passed on a roll-call vote after extended discussion.

The district’s chief financial officer, David Kuritar, told the board the intent is to restore what he described as a “level playing field” between district-operated schools and the charter academy. “My goal as CFO of the district is a level playing field for our students, whether they’re Merit students or district-operated students,” Kuritar said during the presentation. He presented a flow-through analysis showing that, with transportation and COP costs borne entirely by district schools, operating budgets for district-run schools were subsidizing services used by all students.

Merit Academy supporters disputed the premise during public comment. Erin Simpowski, who identified herself as treasurer of the Merit Academy board, said Merit students helped generate roughly $800,000 in excess revenue under the state’s declining-enrollment funding formula and that charging the charter for services this year would be “erroneous” and contrary to prior verbal understandings. “Merit Academy received none of this excess funding,” Simpowski said, urging the district to honor past flow-through arrangements and document any change.

Board members and the CFO acknowledged the history of informal arrangements and said the motion is intended to convert verbal practices into a written, recurring contract so the parties and taxpayers understand who pays for what. The approved motion conditions the FY25 adjustment on Merit Academy’s written agreement to begin paying its proportionate share of COP and transportation costs in FY26, calculated on Merit’s FY26 funded pupil count.

Several trustees pressed for clearer written contracts going forward. Board members noted the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) guidance discussed in prior meetings and asked staff to schedule annual joint reviews of charter–district service agreements to prevent future ambiguity.

What happens next: The district will finalize the administrative language and seek written confirmation from Merit Academy’s leadership about FY26 cost-sharing. The CFO said forensic and annual audits remain underway and flow-through items will be reconciled in charted budgets going forward.