Pueblo D70 plans for high school graduations while grappling with budget cuts

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) — A spokesperson with Pueblo School District 70 said they will have more information about graduation plans for high school seniors after meeting with Pueblo Health officials Monday afternoon. 

A discussion of plans for those graduations is listed on the agenda for Tuesday’s D70 Board of Education Meeting. The meeting will be held remotely with live-streaming and public comment available.  

It will be live-streamed at the Pueblo School District 70 YouTube channel from 5:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

Members of the public can submit written or video-recorded requests to address the board in the same way that they were allowed at physical meetings.

Those requests must be emailed before 12:00 p.m. Tuesday, May 5 to Pam Smith at pasmith@district70.org. 

People can submit a written statement or a video recorded statement. The school district spokesperson said the videos should be emailed as a .mp4 or .mov file and last no longer than 3 minutes.

Meanwhile, Superintendent Ed Smith is warning parents about the impacts of budget cuts for the coming year. The budget cuts are coming from the statehouse as a result of lower tax revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a letter to parents and staff, Smith said D70 is working on plans to cut its budget by nearly $7 million, or 10%, during the coming school year. He said the district will still face significant reductions even if it were to get federal funding to offset the state’s budget cuts.

The first step to save money is to move available administrative staff to current open positions. District administrators and school principals will put a pause on new hiring for most positions.

District departments will also look at reducing supplies, no longer traveling to out of town and state seminars, and eliminating non-essential professional development training, according to Smith. 

“It’s a one-two gut punch right now,” Smith said. “Districts are being told to prepare for extensive state budget decreases, and we are also told to have plans in place to continue remote learning in the fall should schools remain closed.”

He said the budget cut will likely impact the district’s plan to provide elementary and middle school students with laptops or tablets for remote learning use. 

“All of these options will cause some level of disruption and inflict severe financial pain,” Smith said. “But at some point, these cutbacks become destructive and will limit our ability to serve our community. We will continue to fight for the wellbeing of the district's students as well as D70’s future stability.” 

The state budget is expected to be set by the Colorado Legislature and approved by Gov. Jared Polis by the end of the month. That will determine what D70s budget looks like for the coming school year. The D70 Board of Education plans to approve its final budget by the end of June.