Welcome to Class Notes!

What's on my mind this week: When I tell people Jeffco Public Schools is cutting $45 million from its budget, they almost always ask the same thing: "Where is all the money going?"

It's a fair question. Most of us pay property taxes without ever seeing what that money actually buys inside our kids' schools. We get a bill. We pay it. And then when a district says it's broke, we have no frame of reference for whether that's true or what went wrong.

So I put together a tool for you. It works like a store receipt — you enter your home value, and it shows you exactly how much of your property taxes go to your school district and how those dollars are split across categories like classroom instruction, special education, transportation and administration. I'm starting with Jeffco this week and adding Adams 12, 27J, Westminster and Weld RE-8 over the coming weeks, so you can compare.

Try it below. Then tell me what surprised you in a 30-second survey.

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Jeffco Public Schools is Colorado's second-largest district. It has a little over a $1 billion budget, about 66,000 students, and a long‑term structural deficit of roughly $60 million, with a current plan to cut at least $45 million from the budget over the next two years.

Those are the numbers you've probably heard. Here's the one you haven't: how much of your property taxes goes to Jeffco and where that money lands.

The receipt breaks your contribution into seven categories: classroom instruction, special education services, instructional support, school administration, district administration, operations and maintenance, and student transportation.

Between the lines: Denver collects $3,407 per student from its general‑purpose mill levy override, plus another $1,188 from a special override. Jeffco collects $2,120 per student and has no additional special override. That difference runs into the tens of millions of dollars a year across a large district and is one of the major reasons Jeffco’s budget is tightening while neighboring districts with higher overrides have more stable local revenue.

When property values rise, Jeffco doesn't get more money. The state reduces its share. The total pot stays roughly the same. Mill levy overrides are one of the few ways a community can add funding directly to its schools.

Why it matters: The district is projecting a much smaller deficit for 2026-27 after the cuts take effect, but that projection depends on the legislature not further reducing school funding. The state faces an $850 million shortfall, and lawmakers are deciding right now how much of that burden schools absorb. If Jeffco puts a mill levy on the November ballot, your receipt shows what you're paying today — the baseline for any conversation about paying more.

What's next: I'll be rolling out Taxpayer Receipts for Adams 12, 27J, Westminster Public Schools and Weld RE-8 in the coming weeks. Once all five are live, I'll report on how the districts compare, what surprised readers most and what it means for the budget decisions ahead.

After you see your receipt, I have two questions for you:

Your responses will help shape my coverage. I'll report what readers across all five districts said in an upcoming article.

$850 million — Colorado lawmakers opened this year’s session facing an estimated $850 million budget gap, the difference between what it would cost to maintain current services and the revenue they have to spend.

K‑12 schools are one of the largest items in the state budget, and district finance officers say they’re wary that further cuts in 2026‑27 could be coming. Colorado’s school finance system has already left districts below inflation‑adjusted funding targets for years because of the budget stabilization factor, so any new reductions at the state level would flow straight through to local school budgets.

Jeffco and other Front Range districts have built their own multi‑year projections around current state funding promises; if lawmakers push more of the $850 million gap onto schools, families could see another round of cuts on top of those already approved for next year.

📌 A Westminster school may close a year ahead of plan. Westminster Public Schools is still working through its Forward Together Facilities Initiative, which will reconfigure eight campuses over three years. The school board has not yet voted on the full plan, but one school may move up its closure timeline, leaving some parents wondering what’s the rush. Read more →

📌 An Adams 12 teacher is helping educators earn thousands more. Jennifer Cooper, an Adams 12 teacher, founded Happy Teacher Professional Development after realizing how much salary potential teachers leave on the table by not pursuing advanced credentials. Her program offers affordable, relevant courses designed to help educators move up the salary schedule. Read more →

📌 4 tutors, 3 schools: Weld RE-8's literacy pilot. Weld RE-8 has placed four AmeriCorps tutors inside the district's three elementary schools to work one-on-one with students on reading during the school day. With only 26% of RE-8 students reading at grade level on state tests, the district is betting that targeted, in-school tutoring can move the needle, especially for students in kindergarten through third grade, as they transition from learning to read to reading to learn. Read more →

Did Jeffco follow through on its promise to expand AP, IB and concurrent enrollment access?

In December 2023, Jeffco's monitoring report for board Policy 1.2 included a specific commitment: the district would create a plan to investigate the barriers limiting student participation in acceleration options such as AP, IB, and concurrent enrollment, and to propose strategies to grow participation.

That was more than two years ago. I want to know whether the plan was ever created, what it found and what the district did about it.

I've filed a CORA request for the plan itself, any findings or recommendations from the investigation, and any meeting materials from groups convened to do the work. I also asked the district to confirm in writing whether a formal plan was ever developed, and, if not, why not and what they did instead.

I'll report what comes back.

Why it matters: Access to college-level coursework in high school is one of the clearest equity indicators in a district. If Jeffco committed to addressing participation gaps and then didn't follow through, families deserve to know, especially as the district asks the community to weigh in on budget priorities and a potential mill levy.

📍 Taxpayer Receipts for four more districts. Adams 12, 27J, Westminster and Weld RE-8 are next. Once all five are live, I'll compare what families pay across districts and what those differences mean for classrooms.

📍 Are Jeffco students protected from ICE on school grounds? I spoke with two students who say the district isn't doing enough to ensure kids feel safe from immigration enforcement while at or near school. I'm looking into what policies Jeffco has in place, how they compare to other districts and what students and families say is actually happening on the ground.

Still time to weigh in: 27J boundary survey. So far, 101 people have responded to the 27J boundary survey, with prioritizing safety running slightly ahead of balance and alignment. I’m going to share the results with the district, so if you haven't weighed in yet, now's the time.

Class Notes is free because readers like you share it with people who need it. When you refer friends, you unlock tools I've built from covering five Front Range school districts:

🔓 5 referrals — How to Give Public Comment That Gets Heard (checklist)
🔓 10 referrals — CORA Request Template Kit (fill-in-the-blank public records requests)

I can't be everywhere, but you are. If something's happening in your district or school that doesn't add up, I want to hear about it. A policy that makes no sense. A budget line that vanished. A question no one will answer.

You can stay anonymous. I protect my sources.

Class Notes is reported and written by Suzie Glassman for the Colorado Trust for Local News.

I do the homework on your schools, so you don't have to.

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