Money, Politics, and Schools: a look at the money influencing El Paso County school board races

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- As candidates for El Paso County school boards vie for seats in the November election, some community members believe politics are deeply influencing what should be nonpartisan seats.

The money flowing into local races is staggering, with campaign contributions county-wide currently sitting at $185,052.83.

Meanwhile, the spotlight on school boards continues to shine as topics like gender and sexuality, book bans and critical race theory dominate public comment in board meetings.

District 11 Superintendent Michael Gaal says the district has worked hard to limit political disruptions in school board meetings. They even restructured meetings to do so, starting them with highlighting achievements at their schools.

"Politics are politics, they're always going to be there," said Gaal. "But it's very hard for people to come in and start protesting their personal belief when they're on the back side of student success."

Following the money in these elections, KRDO tracked campaign contributions in every El Paso County school district from the 2017 school board races to the races now.

From 2017 to 2019, campaign contributions county-wide increased by nearly 40%, increasing by $26,125.58.

A massive jump occurred from 2019 to 2021, with campaign contributions going from $91,441.70 to $263,850.45, increasing by 188% countywide.

In Academy School District 20, $19,516 were contributed to their school board races, but in 2021, campaign contributions in D20 hit $91,000, increasing by 366%

District 20 Parent Jennifer Larue says two years ago, some parents started noticing campaign donations pouring in from donors they couldn't trace.

"Whereas ten years ago, it really seemed as though it wasn't a political seat," said Larue. "Now, people are trying to put politics into the schools, and that's not good for anybody."

In 2021, a group called Springs Opportunity Fund pumped nearly $200,000 into El Paso County school board races through a group called Colorado Springs Forward.

The money was then used repeatedly over the next few weeks to purchase mailers and digital advertising for three trios of candidates in Districts 11, 20, and 49.

All nine of the candidates in those three districts who were backed financially by Colorado Springs Forward were elected in 2021.

"We've seen a massive influx of campaign cash coming into those races, often from out of the districts, often from out of state," said Nick Hinrichsen, a Democratic Senator out of Pueblo.

Hinrichsen voted for a new law to address the influx of campaign cash coming into school board races.

Under the new law, a single person cannot contribute more than $2,500 to a school board candidate and contributions from a small donor group are capped at $25,000.

"It exists to provide checks and balances and accountability of a school administration," said Hinrichsen.

Some politicians like Republican Senator Bob Gardner believe the law is well-intentioned but wrong-headed.

"The so-called reform doesn't stop the contributions," said Gardner. "It simply drives them away from the candidate and under the radar."

Gardner says the new law poses a free speech issue because constitutionally, all Americans are allowed to advocate for their ideas.

"These limitations and complex rules about what expenditures go where and how they must be reported are very burdensome to people and really discourages people from running for office," said Gardner.

Campaign contributions county-wide for the 2023 election currently sit at around $80,000 less than the total contributions for 2021.