KRDO13 Investigates: District 49 superintendent addresses accountability, classroom impact after financial crisis
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - As students return to District 49 classrooms for the new school year, the district's superintendent says families should not expect major changes in the classroom despite staffing reductions approved earlier this year during a financial crisis.
The start of the school year marks the district's first full semester since District 49 announced a budget shortfall that led to approximately $1.8 million in staffing reductions.
In his first on-camera interview with KRDO13 Investigates since the district declared the financial crisis, Superintendent Peter Hilts said district leaders worked to minimize the impact on students.
"There really isn't any difference because we were so intentional about making sure the impacts didn't land in the classroom," Hilts said.
Hilts said the district preserved the vast majority of its academic offerings by evaluating student enrollment in individual courses when making reductions.
"We had a few minor places where we trimmed back on some of our programs," Hilts said. "The main way we decided what to trim was on student interest."
Hilts did not identify which specific classes or programs were reduced during the interview. D49 later confirmed that a computer science course was among those cut.
The district told KRDO13 that they encourage cross-district participation in existing programs, and if one campus does not offer a particular program, they have a campus in their portfolio that does. D49 says they then work to make those programs accessible to all students.
He also said District 49 is not seeing waitlists for math or reading intervention services and continues to offer extracurricular activities and enrichment programs for students.
According to Hilts, more than half of the licensed employees affected by the district's reduction in force were able to return in different positions.
"When we did the reduction in force, if we just looked at our licensed staff cohort ... 51% of those individuals came back into a different position or into a consolidated position," he said.
Reporting error and repayment
The staffing reductions followed months of budget challenges for District 49.
District leaders previously said multiple factors contributed to those challenges, including changes in state funding. At the same time, a student count reporting error required the district to repay approximately $2.04 million to the Colorado Department of Education.
As previously reported by KRDO13 Investigates, a Colorado Department of Education audit found District 49 incorrectly counted some students as full-time for funding purposes, resulting in the district repaying approximately $2.04 million after an appeal reduced the original repayment amount.
During the interview, KRDO13 Investigates asked Hilts who was responsible for the reporting error.
"When you have an audit finding that amounts to two students per school per year, that's not a pervasive pattern," Hilts said. "There's no one person that's responsible."
When asked whether he personally accepts responsibility as superintendent, Hilts said leadership has taken ownership of improving the district's processes.
"All of us take responsibility. I certainly do, for getting even more precise," Hilts said.
Hilts said the district has already changed its enrollment procedures by adjusting schedules and adding additional checkpoints to help ensure students meet the state's requirements for full-time enrollment.
"We increased a couple of checkpoints within our enrollment system to make sure that we're scheduling every student for as many classes and hours as they need to meet the state's requirements," he said.
Hilts also said the district used financial reserves to repay the state over two years.
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