D-51 budget for 2024-2025 fiscal year

This year's budget required strategic resource allocation due to Colorado being 35th in the country for per-pupil funding for K-12 education. As one of the lowest-funded districts, they had to be strategic. D-51 Superintendent Brian Hill mentioned that with the 2023-24 school year coming to a close, administrators are quickly planning for the upcoming school year and navigating funding changes and challenges. The ESSR funding, which was one-time funding received during COVID, is going away. Consequently, decisions had to be made about what would stay and what would go. Furthermore, other funds will also take a budget hit. There has been a decrease in Title One funding, which will impact D-51. House Bill24- 1448 aims to give the school district increased funding per student spread out over 6 years. However, Hill mentioned that although this bill would increase per-pupil funding for districts like D-51, any increase they see would be offset by the fact that they switched from a Five-year average to a Four-year average. As a result, D-51 won't see that money right away. Also, because the grants received were one-time funds, they can't be used to fund teacher wages. Hill mentioned that he's looking into new grants to replace grant funding that D-51 can't count on for the next school year. D51 is a receiving one-time dollars for new students, and those funds will go towards students whose second language is English. Despite what may look like a tight budget, Hill expressed his pride in D51 schools and the growth they've accomplished. The district has achieved the highest graduation rate in 17 years, a higher percentage than ever of students reading on or above grade level and over 80% of our schools are at the top two highest academic levels in the state, all thanks to our staff. Hill emphasized that funding his staff is a huge priority, increasing teachers' starting salary to $50,000, which is a significant 33% increase from just Four years ago. He also expressed optimism about the district's future and excitement about opening the new Grand Junction High School and finalizing a new 25-year facility master plan to improve existing buildings. The final budget for 2024-25 school year will be presented at the end of May.