In a booming state, public schools grapple with asbestos, leaks and four-day weeks

Students play dodgeball in at Manzanola Elementary School in Manzanola, Colo. The ceiling flakes asbestos, and a lengthy crack mars the wall. Public school districts across the state are dealing with similar problems because of its funding formula and the repeated defeat of local bond and property tax proposals. By Jennifer Oldham March 7 at 8:00 AM MANZANOLA, Colo. — Asbestos floats down from the gym ceiling at Manzanola Elementary. Gaping cracks crisscross cinder-block walls.

Collectively, officials say, Colorado’s 178 school districts have more than $14 billion in infrastructure needs. Spending per student is well below the national average of approximately $12,500 — even below of Mississippi, Louisiana and New Mexico, which in 2017 posted the nation’s highest poverty rates. Budget shortfalls have stalled teacher pay and forced more than half of all districts to put one or more schools on a four-day week, the largest proportion in the country.

“I am a single mom. I have three kids,” teacher Rebecca Ryan said at a school board meeting on Jan. 24. “They are getting fed from a food bank because my salary doesn’t cover my student loans, my living expenses, and I now can’t afford groceries.” “At the end of the day, people wonder, ‘How can you have such a hot economy and not be able to fund your schools?’ ” said Dave Young, the state treasurer who taught middle school math, science and technology for 24 years.

“There’s no real solution in sight at the local level for the Manzanolas of the world,” Gov. Jared Polis said in a recent interview. “That’s why districts like Manzanola and others really need state leadership in a state funding solution.” “We really have a system of haves and have-nots, and the spectrum is widening at each end,” warned Walt Cooper, superintendent of the Cheyenne Mountain School District in the southwest corner of Colorado Springs.

Superintendents say outdated curriculums, technology and infrastructure in districts unable to pass measures to increase property taxes can impede student performance on statewide assessments. When local measures fail, districts have few alternatives. Aging facilities are patched rather than repaired or replaced. And administrators like Manzanola’s Wilke pray that the auditorium ceiling holds.

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