Colorado

NCAI Region: Southwest

Total Population: 5,029,196

Native American Population: 107,832

Native American Reservation Population: 3,211

Percentage of population: 2.1%

Number of Tribes: 2

State Public Education Department: Colorado Department of Education

State Average Per Pupil Funding: $9,733

Charter Support Organizations: 1) Colorado League of Charter Schools2) Colorado Charter School Institute

Year Charter Law Enacted: 1993

2020 Model Law Ranking: 2

Estimated Number of Charter Schools: 261

Estimated Number of Charter Students: $125,017

Colorado law provides a per-pupil charter facilities funding program. The state provided $300.99 per student in 2020-21. Colorado law allows charter schools to apply for competitive grants from the state’s public school facility financing program, the Building Excellent Schools Today (BEST) program.
The law requires school districts to invite charter schools to discuss their capital construction needs before the district submits a bond request or floats a bond for facilities funding. Districts are not required, however, to include charter schools as part of their requests or bonds.
The law requires school districts to include at least one charter representative on any long-term mill levy planning committees, invite each charter to participate in ballot submission discussions, and, if the district doesn’t include a charter’s needs, provide a written justification as to why these needs weren’t included. The law requires the creation of an annual report by the Colorado Department of Education that compiles the amount of mill levy revenue in each school district and the amount of the mill levy shared with charters in each school district.
The law specifies that a charter school may not be charged rent for using space in a school district facility, although other costs for facilities operations and maintenance must be negotiated between the charter school and the school district. The law explicitly allows charter schools to lease or purchase land from the state.
The law requires that each school district that authorizes a charter school must prepare a list of any vacant or underused buildings and land and provide the list, upon request, to charter schools authorized by the school district, charter school applicants, and other interested persons, and must also post on their website. Within 45 days after the list is made available, charter schools or applicants may apply to use the building or land as the location for the charter school, and make a decisions in a public meeting held no later than 90 days after the list is posted, including public disclosure of reasons for any disapproval.
Colorado law creates the Charter School Matching Moneys Loan Program, which is set up to provide a state loan for qualified schools (i.e., investment grade schools) to meet any required matches under the state’s public school facility financing program (i.e., BEST).
Colorado law provides that the Educational and Colorado Cultural Facility Authority (CECFA) may issue bonds on behalf of charter schools. The charter school debt reserve fund, backed by the moral obligation pledge of the state, enhances charter school’s ability to borrow funds from CECFA and to obtain more favorable rates.
Colorado law provides a mechanism for limited credit enhancement for eligible, highly rated bond transactions for charter schools by using the state’s moral obligation to back up to $500 million in debt.
The law requires school districts to invite charter schools to discuss their capital construction needs before the district submits a bond request or floats a bond for facilities funding. Districts are not required, however, to include charter schools as part of their requests or bonds.