Serving Lakewood, Wheat Ridge and beyond
WEEK OF MAY 15, 2025
VOLUME 41 | ISSUE 41
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Winners and losers in school finance bill Shift to weighted model has wide range of effects on metro districts BY SUZIE GLASSMAN SGLASSMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Colorado lawmakers on May 7 finalized a sweeping shift in how the state funds public schools, passing House Bill 25-1320 on the final day of the 2025 legislative session. While most districts will see a boost in the coming year, a slow but steady transition toward a new weighted formula will leave some districts, including Jefferson County, facing significant financial challenges. This shift in public school funding comes as lawmakers worked this spring to pass the 2025 School Finance Act against the backdrop of a $1.2 billion state budget shortfall. Initially, districts with declining enrollment faced steep potential cuts under a proposal championed by Gov. Jared Polis to eliminate “ghost students” from funding counts. However, after weeks of negotiations, a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced a compromise that preserves more stability for districts while slightly slowing the transition to the new weighted formula. The compromise maintains the use of a four-year student enrollment average for the next year, protecting districts with declining enrollment and phases in the new formula more gradually over seven years instead of six. It also sets a statutory minimum for total statewide funding in the 2025-26 school year, requiring the state to allocate at least $10 billion for all districts and institute charter schools combined. This figure will be updated midyear based on actual enrollment, assessed valuations and local tax revenue. The final bill also caps state construction grants at $150 million to free up additional operational funding. Even with these adjustments, school funding will increase statewide next year, although some districts with shrinking enrollment will see no additional money beyond a “hold harmless” guarantee — a provision that ensures districts receive at least as much funding as the previous year, even if their enrollment declines.
WINDOW Warren Tech students are fired up WESTMINSTER
Warren Tech Fire Science students watch as a training structure burns during Fire Investigation Day, an annual simulation that teaches students how to collaborate across emergency fields. PHOTO BY SUZIE GLASSMAN
Multiple programs stage house fire and solve the crime BY SUZIE GLASSMAN SGLASSMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
On a windy spring morning, flames shot skyward as fire science students from Jeffco Public Schools’ Warren Tech Central crouched in full gear, ready to knock down the blaze they’d just ignited. The burn was the centerpiece of Fire Investigation Day, a cross-program simulation that brought together students from fire science, forensic science, building trades and criminal justice to re-create and investigate a fire scene. “We intentionally set a fire to establish a crime scene,” said Rob Sprenkle, fire investigator with South Metro Fire Rescue and co-creator of Fire Investigation Day. “We’ve placed a bunch of evidence inside of these cells for them to find and properly process.” Their task: determine what caused the fire and whether a crime occurred in-
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side the structure. “This demonstration allows the students to see how they would collaborate with another department in an actual emergency,” said Martha Patton, associate principal at Warren Tech, emphasizing the real-world, interdisciplinary value of the event. The exercise required students to think like professionals and solve an unfolding mystery in real time. Students rotated through roles throughout the day, observing fire behavior, conducting interviews, collecting evidence and analyzing burn patterns. Before any flames could rise or evidence could be gathered, students first had to construct the scene of the future crime.
WINDOW Students built the house they burned
Building Trades students constructed the model house used in the event, applying lessons in framing, materials and interior finishing. They designed the structure with a functional room and realistic furnishings, knowing it would end up in flames.
VOICES: 8 | LIFE: 10 | CALENDAR: 13 | SPORTS: 14
“This structure was built to code, and what we saw today is that the fire didn’t come through the walls,” Sprenkle said. “That’s a testament to what good construction can do. It held up the way it was supposed to.” “We light it, destroy it and then start over next year,” he added. “The process of rebuilding teaches just as much as the investigation.” The structure included drywall, furniture, personal belongings and blood evidence to simulate a realistic fire scene. Forensic and criminal justice students solve the mystery
Once the flames were out and the smoldering structure cooled, another set of students stepped in to piece together what happened inside. Forensic science and criminal justice students secured the scene and went through the investigation of how the fire started, how the pig would die and how they would investigate a body in a necropsy in a fire. SEE FIRED UP, P3
SEE FINANCE BILL, P4
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