Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Woodland Park board adopts 2026–27 budget amid scrutiny of Merit Academy finances and transportation
Summary
The Woodland Park School District Board adopted a balanced 2026–27 budget after a detailed fund-by-fund review by CFO David. Public commenters raised concerns about Merit Academy's finances and its withdrawal from the district transportation program, which the budget documents and staff said affect revenues and routing costs.
The Woodland Park School District Board of Education approved the 2026–27 budget on a roll call vote after a public hearing and extended discussion of fund balances, charter pass-throughs and transportation costs.
CFO David presented the budget and explained that the proposal is balanced, with only modest net changes from the draft: "the budgets are still balanced... the net changes that washed through the budget were only I think it was like $40,000 difference in the expense side and $77,000 in the revenue side," he told the board. He walked trustees through changes driven by recent state school-finance revisions, reductions in charter pass-through revenues and the district’s estimate of transportation obligations. David estimated the district’s total transportation cost at about $1.1 million this fiscal year, said the state reimbursement was roughly $195,000 and that bus fees collected were about $15,000.
Several public commenters urged greater scrutiny of Merit Academy’s finances. Reverend Nate Williams told the board the charter was financially insolvent, alleging it is "nearly $1 million in debt" and that Merit receives "nearly 25% more funding per student than our traditional district schools," and urged the board to reintegrate Merit students into district schools. Those are assertions made by a public commenter in the meeting record and were not substantiated in the boardroom during the hearing.
Board discussion focused on how the budget accounts for charter flow-throughs and transportation. David said the budget reflects Merit Academy’s decision not to participate in the district-sponsored transportation program next year, which reduced charter-related pass-through revenue and required route and contract reconfiguration with Durham. He cautioned that transportation expenses are recorded across multiple funds under Colorado Department of Education (CDE) accounting rules and that a single-sheet cost-per-rider calculation is not directly visible without assembling several line items.
After discussion, trustee motion to adopt the proposed 2026–27 budget passed on a roll call vote. The board also approved an audit engagement with DMC Auditing and Consulting LLC to replace the prior auditor for the upcoming close-out process.
Next steps identified by staff include finalizing transportation routing and contracts now that Merit will not be in the district program, reconciling pass-through and fund-23 activity as part of year-end audit work, and revisiting budget assumptions in the January reforecast if state school-finance figures change.
