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S_ED_2025A 01/23/2025 09:58:11 AM Committee Summary

PUBLIC
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING
JOINT COMMITTEE COMMITTEE ON JOINT EDUCATION
Date 01/23/2025
Attendance
Bacon X
Bradfield *
Bright X
Caldwell X
Gilchrist *
Hamrick X
Hartsook X
Johnson *
Kipp X
Lundeen X
Marchman X
Martinez *
Michaelson Jenet X
Phillips X
Rich X
Sander X
Smith X
Story X
Kolker X
Lukens X
Time 09:58:11 AM to 05:36:43 PM
Place Old State Library
This Meeting was called to order by Lukens
This Report was prepared by Matthu Beck
Hearing Items Action Taken
Presentation from History Colorado Committee Discussion Only
Briefing by the Joint Budget Committee pursuant to Joint Rule 25 Committee Discussion Only
SMART Act Presentation from the Department of Higher Education Committee Discussion Only
Presentation from CollegeInvest Committee Discussion Only
School Finance Presentation from Legislative Council Staff Committee Discussion Only
SMART Act Presentation from the Department of Education Committee Discussion Only
Briefing from the Office of State Budget and Planning Committee Discussion Only
Perspectives on School Funding from CASE Chief Financial Officers Committee Discussion Only

Presentation from History Colorado - Committee Discussion Only
09:58:37 AM  
Dawn DiPrince, President
and CEO, and Annie Levinsky, VP and COO, began their presentation, which
can be found as Attachment A. They spoke about History Colorado and their
different programs. They went over their goals for the year for the department
and discussed legislation passed in the last year that they are implementing.
10:12:37 AM  
Ms. Levinsky and
Ms. DiPrince answered questions from members of the committee.
10:32:25 AM  
The panel continued
to answer questions from members of the committee.



Briefing by the Joint Budget Committee pursuant to Joint Rule 25 - Committee Discussion Only
10:36:23 AM  

Senator Bridges gave an overview of the budget and spoke about the role of the Joint Budget Committee (JBC). He answered questions from members of the committee.
10:38:02 AM  
Senator Bridges went
over specific items mentioned in the budget requests for the Departments
of Education, Higher Education, and Early Childhood. The JBC members answered
questions from members of the committee.
10:58:31 AM  
Discussion continued between the JBC members and members of the committee regarding budget requests.
11:22:31 AM  
Senator Bridges continued presenting the budget requests related to education.
11:22:48 AM  
Members of the JBC answered questions from members of the committee.



SMART Act Presentation from the Department of Higher Education - Committee Discussion Only
11:41:49 AM  
Dr. Angie Paccione,
Executive Director, began her presentation, which can be found as Attachment
B. She gave an overview of the Department of Higher Education and their
goals for the year as well as their budget needs.
11:43:00 AM  
Jen Walmer, Chair,
Colorado Commission on Higher Education, spoke about the department's strategic
plan.
11:56:56 AM  
Director Paccione
gave updates on bills passed in the previous legislative session and how
they have been implemented by the department.
12:03:14 PM  

Members of the department answered questions from members of the committee.
12:27:21 PM  
Members of the department
continued to answer questions from members of the committee.
12:27:48 PM  
Dr. Sophia Laderman,
Chief Policy and Research Officer, spoke about the department's legislative
agenda, which includes requests on legislation pertaining to transferring
credits, increasing ROI through work-based learning opportunities, improving
postsecondary education incentive programs, and higher education statute
alignment and technical changes. She discussed cybersecurity and IT recovery.
Dr. Paccione reviewed the department's FY 2025-26 budget request and stimulus
funding implementation.
12:53:57 PM  
Dr. Tricia Johnson, Deputy Executive Director of the department, discussed Care Forward Colorado and Career Advance Colorado. Dr. Gillian McKnight Tutein, Chief Education Equity Officer, spoke about the department's higher education equity framework as well as Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion efforts. Dr. Cynthia Armendariz, Managing Director of the Colorado Opportunity Scholarship Initiative (COSI), provided an overview of COSI. Carl Einhaus, Chief Student Success and Academic Affairs Officer, spoke about Colorado GEAR UP and provided data on students with disabilities in higher education as required by statute.



Presentation from CollegeInvest - Committee Discussion Only
01:08:03 PM  
Angela Baier, CEO
of CollegeInvest, began her presentation, which can be found as Attachment
C. She provided an overview of CollegeInvest and updated the committee
on the Kickstarter Program, also known as First Step. She spoke about CollegeInvest's
bilingual outreach, marketing efforts, and various partnerships, as well
as a new enrollees user experience survey. Ms. Baier answered questions
from the committee.



School Finance Presentation from Legislative Council Staff - Committee Discussion Only
01:15:51 PM  
Anna Gerstle, Principal
Fiscal and School Finance Analyst, began her presentation, which can be
found as Attachment D. She provided a high level summary of how school
finance works in Colorado, a breakdown of sources of school funding under
the current formula and a history of how funding has been split between
local and state share in the past several decades. She spoke about the
prior school funding formula established under the Public School Finance
Act of 1994 and compared it to the new school finance formula that was
passed by House Bill 24-1448 in terms of funded per pupil count. She spoke
about balancing of the General Fund and the State Education Fund.
01:32:57 PM  
Ms. Gerstle answered
questions from members of the committee regarding school funding in the
state and the State Education Fund.
01:48:29 PM  
Ms. Gerstle continued to answer questions from the members of the committee.



SMART Act Presentation from the Department of Education - Committee Discussion Only
02:06:01 PM  
Susana Cordova, Comissioner,
Colorado Department of Education (CDE), began her presentation, which can
be found as Attachment E. She introduced her staff and gave an overview
of CDE as well as its strategic plan. She spoke about the department's
goals as well as various grant programs. She gave a summary of different
legislative task forces, work groups, and studies along with when the reports
were submitted and how many recommendations they made.
02:23:13 PM  
Commissioner Cordova
answered questions from members of the committee. Members of the CDE answered
questions from members of the committee.
02:49:16 PM  
Commissioner Cordova continued to answer questions from members of the committee.
02:57:41 PM  
The committee recessed.
03:12:03 PM  
The committee came
to order.



Briefing from the Office of State Budget and Planning - Committee Discussion Only
03:13:14 PM  
Mark Ferrandino,
Executive Director, Office of State Planning and Budget (OSPB), gave an
overview of the state budget and how it relates to education. He spoke
about inflation and how it is effecting the cap on revenue growth. He spoke
about specific details of OSPB's budget proposal.
03:27:55 PM  
Director Ferrandino answered questions from members of the committee.
03:43:07 PM  
Director Ferrandino continued to answer questions from members of the committee.
03:53:17 PM  
Director Ferrandino
continued to answer questions regarding school funding.
03:57:27 PM  
Director Ferrandino continued to dialogue with members of the committee.



Perspectives on School Funding from CASE Chief Financial Officers - Committee Discussion Only
04:28:11 PM  
Scott Smith, CFO
Cherry Creek Schools and incoming president for the Colorado Association
of School Executivse (CASE), began their presentation, which can be found
as Attachment F. He spoke about his disappointment with the current budget
proposal. He spoke about how changes in security, technology and mental
health costs affect the budget.
04:33:25 PM  
Chuck Carpenter,
CFO, Denver Public Schools (DPS), spoke about how the Governor's proposed
budget would affect funding for DPS.
04:39:12 PM  
Brenna Copeland,
CFO, Jeffco Public Schools, spoke about important programs that need funding
and future plans for the district.
04:44:23 PM  
Stephanie Juneau, CFO, Steamboat Springs School District, spoke about the impact of removing averaging on different rural school districts.
04:49:30 PM  
Brett Johnson, CFO,
Aurora Public Schools (APS) and CASE Legislative Co-Chair, spoke about
the effects of declining enrollment on APS. Scott Smith spoke about CASE
as a whole and it's role representing schools. He spoke about how funding
cuts would affect small rural districts.
05:03:38 PM  
Members of the panel answered questions from members of the committee.
05:19:55 PM  
The panel continued to answer questions from members of the committee.


05:36:43 PM   The committee adjourned.






The effective date for bills enacted without a safety clause is August 6, 2025, if the General Assembly adjourns sine die on May 7, 2025 (unless otherwise specified). Details

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