Board of Education » Board of Education Legislative Agenda

Board of Education Legislative Agenda

Colorado Legislature Building in Denver

The Durango School District Board of Education believes it is our responsibility to advocate for public education, our students, families, and community. In order to do so, we prioritize our positions, meet with our state and federal representatives, and educate our community so they, too, can be advocates. 

2026 Priorities

  • Ensure no reduction in funding for the 2026-27 school year and prevent reinstatement of the Budget Stabilization Factor (BS) or any other defunding mechanism.

  • Commit to adequacy study recommendations and the development of a blueprint for sustainable and adequate funding.

2026 Platform

The Durango School Board is committed to advocating with legislators to accomplish the following:

Finance

  • Development of a blueprint for ensuring long-term sustainable, equitable, and adequate funding as defined by the recent adequacy studies.

  • Fully funding the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and placing it within mandatory spending portions of the federal budget to ensure that, over a period of time, the obligation will be met as a federal budgetary priority.

  • Permanent rural funding to make up for the increased costs to rural and remote districts, including recruitment and retention.

  • Opposing unfunded mandates or mandates that require districts to cover the costs of compliance.

  • Providing resources, flexibility, and support for staff housing in areas most challenged with high costs of housing and/or low availability.

  • Raising the Mill Levy Override (MLO) cap to help recruitment and retainment issues.

Student and Staff Safety and Success

  • Standards and assessments better aligned to reflect student learning. Currently, even the highest-performing districts are only reaching 60% proficiency.

Accountability

  • Restricting the grounds on which the State Board of Education can overturn a local school district's decision to deny a new charter school application to be a determination of whether the local school district’s decision was arbitrary and capricious, the common standard for nearly all administrative reviews.

  • Ensure that no public monies are used for K-12 private schools, through vouchers or any other method.

  • Ensure all publicly funded school options equitably serve all students.

  • Ensure consistent accountability and transparency for all publicly funded school options to guarantee a learning environment that results in positive student outcomes.