As used in this article 54, unless the
context otherwise requires:
(1) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2003, p. 2117, � 1, effective May 22, 2003.)
(1.3) Accounting district means the district within whose geographic
boundaries an institute charter school is physically located.
(1.4) (a) ASCENT program means the accelerating students through
concurrent enrollment program created in section 22-35-108.
(b) This subsection (1.4) is repealed, effective July 1, 2026.
(1.5) (a) At-risk pupils means:
(I) to (V) Repealed.
(VI) For the 2021-22 budget year and budget years thereafter, the greater of:
(A) The number of district pupils eligible for free or reduced-price lunch; or
(B) The number of pupils calculated in accordance with the following
formula:
District percentage of pupils eligible for free or reduced-price lunch x District pupil
enrollment.
(b) Repealed.
(c) For purposes of subsection (1.5)(a)(VI) of this section:
(I) District percentage of pupils eligible for free or reduced-price lunch
means the district pupils eligible for free or reduced-price lunch in grades one
through eight divided by the district pupil enrollment in grades one through eight.
(II) (A) Repealed.
(B) District pupil enrollment means, for the 2023-24 budget year and each
budget year thereafter, the pupil enrollment of the district, as determined in
accordance with subsection (10) of this section.
(III) District pupils eligible for free or reduced-price lunch means the
number of pupils included in the district pupil enrollment who are eligible for free
or reduced-price lunch pursuant to the provisions of the federal Richard B. Russell
National School Lunch Act, 42 U.S.C. sec. 1751 et seq.
(d) For purposes of this subsection (1.5), at-risk pupils are counted in the
same manner as pupils are counted pursuant to subsection (10) of this section.
(e) For purposes of this subsection (1.5), a pupil's eligibility for free or
reduced-price lunch may be demonstrated by any means, including identification
through an application for free or reduced-price lunch pursuant to the federal
Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act, 42 U.S.C. sec. 1751 et seq. or
Colorado's participation in the demonstration project operated pursuant to 42
U.S.C. sec. 1758 (b)(15) for direct certification for children receiving benefits
through medicaid.
(2) Board of education means the board of education of a district.
(3) Budget year means the period beginning on July 1 of each year and
ending on the following June 30 for which a budget for a district is adopted.
(4) Department of education means the department of education created
in section 24-1-115, C.R.S.
(5) District means any public school district organized under the laws of
Colorado, except a local college district.
(5.2) [ Editor's note: This version of subsection (5.2) is effective until July 1,
2026. ] District extended high school pupil enrollment means the number of
pupils, on the pupil enrollment count day within the applicable budget year, who are
concurrently enrolled in a postsecondary course, including an academic course or a
career and technical education course, as a participant in the ASCENT program or
the TREP program and the number of pupils, on the pupil enrollment count day
within the applicable budget year, who are enrolled in grade thirteen or fourteen in
a p-tech school. A pupil enrolled in a p-tech school pursuant to article 35.3 of this
title 22 must be included in the district extended high school pupil enrollment as a
full-time student. An ASCENT program participant or a TREP program participant
who is enrolled in at least twelve credit hours of postsecondary courses, including
academic courses and career and technical education courses, as of the pupil
enrollment count day of the applicable budget year must be included in the district
extended high school pupil enrollment as a full-time pupil. An ASCENT program
participant or a TREP program participant who is enrolled in less than twelve credit
hours of postsecondary courses, including academic courses and career and
technical education courses, as of the pupil enrollment count day of the applicable
budget year must be included in the district extended high school pupil enrollment
as a part-time pupil.
(5.2) [ Editor's note: This version of subsection (5.2) is effective July 1, 2026. ] District extended high school pupil enrollment means the number of pupils, on the
pupil enrollment count day within the applicable budget year, who are concurrently
enrolled in a postsecondary course, including an academic course or a career and
technical education course, as a participant in the TREP program and the number of
pupils, on the pupil enrollment count day within the applicable budget year, who are
enrolled in grade thirteen or fourteen in a p-tech school. A pupil enrolled in a p-tech
school pursuant to article 35.3 of this title 22 must be included in the district
extended high school pupil enrollment as a full-time student. A TREP program
participant who is enrolled in at least twelve credit hours of postsecondary courses,
including academic courses and career and technical education courses, as of the
pupil enrollment count day of the applicable budget year must be included in the
district extended high school pupil enrollment as a full-time pupil. A TREP program
participant who is enrolled in less than twelve credit hours of postsecondary
courses, including academic courses and career and technical education courses,
as of the pupil enrollment count day of the applicable budget year must be
included in the district extended high school pupil enrollment as a part-time pupil.
(5.5) (a) Repealed.
(b) District percentage of at-risk pupils means, for the 2023-24 budget
year and each budget year thereafter, the number of at-risk pupils in the district, as
determined in accordance with subsection (1.5) of this section, divided by the pupil
enrollment of the district, as determined in accordance with subsection (10) of this
section.
(5.7) District rural funding means a small rural district or large rural district
that receives funding pursuant to section 22-54-104 (4.9).
(6) District total program or district's total program means a district's
funding, as determined pursuant to this article 54, which is the financial base of
support for public education in that district.
(6.5) English language learner pupils means the number of district pupils
who are English language learners, as defined in section 22-24-103 (4), and for
whom the district receives funding for the applicable budget year pursuant to
section 22-24-104 (3)(b)(I).
(7) Repealed.
(7.5) Institute charter school means a charter school that enters into a
charter contract with the state charter school institute pursuant to the provisions of
part 5 of article 30.5 of this title.
(8) Joint district means a district which is located in more than one county.
(8.3) Large rural district means a district that the department of education
determines is a rural district, based on the geographic size of the district and the
distance of the district from the nearest large, urbanized area, and that has a
funded pupil count of at least one thousand but fewer than six thousand five
hundred pupils in kindergarten through twelfth grade.
(8.5) (a) Online pupil enrollment means:
(I) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2009, (SB 09-292), ch. 369, p. 1964, � 64,
effective August 5, 2009.)
(II) The number of pupils, on the pupil enrollment count day within the
applicable budget year, enrolled in, attending, and actively participating in a multi-district online school, as defined in section 22-30.7-102 (6), created pursuant to
article 30.7 of this title 22.
(b) A district's online pupil enrollment includes the certified online pupil
enrollment of each operating institute charter school for which the district is the
accounting district. The department of education shall add the institute charter
school's certified online pupil enrollment to the online pupil enrollment of the
district prior to calculating the district's total program.
(9) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2010, (HB 10-1013), ch. 399, p. 1914, � 42,
effective June 10, 2010.)
(9.3) Per pupil revenues means the district's total program for any budget
year divided by the district's funded pupil count for said budget year.
(9.5) Repealed.
(9.7) P-tech school means a pathways in technology early college high
school that is approved pursuant to article 35.3 of this title.
(10) (a) (I) Pupil enrollment means the number of pupils enrolled on the
pupil enrollment count day within the applicable budget year, as evidenced by the
actual attendance of such pupils prior to said date, except as otherwise provided in
subsections (10)(a)(II) and (10)(h) of this section, plus the number of pupils expelled
prior to the pupil enrollment count day within the applicable budget year who are
receiving educational services pursuant to section 22-33-203 as of the pupil
enrollment count day of the applicable budget year.
(II) Pupil enrollment includes:
(A) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2024).
(B) A pupil who is enrolled in, attending, and actively participating in a
single-district online program or online school operated pursuant to article 30.7 of
this title 22.
(III) Repealed.
(III.5) Pupil enrollment includes any juvenile to whom the school district is
providing educational services pursuant to section 22-32-141 as of the pupil
enrollment count day of the applicable budget year.
(IV) Repealed.
(V) Pupil enrollment does not include a pupil who is placed in a facility, as
defined in section 22-2-402 (3), and is receiving services through an approved
facility school, as defined in section 22-2-402 (1).
(a.5) Repealed.
(b) (I) A pupil who is enrolled in a kindergarten educational program pursuant
to section 22-32-119 is counted as a full-time pupil, except as otherwise provided in
subsection (10)(e.5)(I) of this section. A district shall count and receive funding only
for pupils enrolled in a kindergarten educational program who are:
(A) Five years old as of October 1 of the applicable budget year; or
(B) Four years old as of October 1 of the applicable budget year and who
have been identified by an administrative unit to be highly advanced gifted children
for whom early access to kindergarten is appropriate, as provided in section 22-20-204.5.
(I.5) Repealed.
(II) A pupil with a disability receiving an educational program under the
Exceptional Children's Educational Act, article 20 of this title, who would be in
kindergarten but for such disability, shall be counted as a half-day pupil. A pupil
with a disability receiving a full-day educational program under said act, who would
be in a grade beyond kindergarten but for such disability, shall be counted as a full-day pupil.
(c) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2003, p. 2119, � 4, effective May 22, 2003.)
(d) A district shall not include a three- or four-year-old pupil with a disability
who is receiving an educational program under the Exceptional Children's
Educational Act, article 20 of this title 22, but is not enrolled in kindergarten, in the
district's pupil enrollment, but shall certify to the department the number of three-
and four-year-old pupils with disabilities who are receiving an educational program
from the district for purposes of receiving funding pursuant to part 1 of article 20 of
this title 22.
(e) A pupil determined to have a disability in accordance with section 22-20-108 and receiving an educational program outside of the district of residence shall
be considered enrolled in the district of residence for purposes of this subsection
(10).
(e.5) (I) A pupil who is enrolled as less than a full-time student, other than a
student described in subsection (10)(b)(II) or (10)(d) of this section or a student
enrolled in a p-tech school pursuant to article 35.3 of this title 22, is counted in
accordance with rules promulgated by the state board for students who are
enrolled as less than full-time students.
(II) Notwithstanding any provision of subsection (10)(e.5)(I) of this section to
the contrary, a pupil who completes one school year of enrollment in a half-day
kindergarten educational program and does not advance to first grade, pursuant to
section 22-7-1207, is counted as a full-day pupil for the second year in which the
pupil is enrolled in the half-day kindergarten educational program.
(e.7) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2009, (HB 09-1319), ch. 286, p. 1317, � 6,
effective May 21, 2009.)
(f) In certifying the district's pupil enrollment to the state board pursuant to
the provisions of section 22-54-112, the district shall specify the number of pupils
enrolled in kindergarten through twelfth grade, specifying those who are enrolled
as full-time pupils and those who are enrolled as less than full-time pupils; the
number of expelled pupils receiving educational services pursuant to section 22-33-203; the number of at-risk pupils; the number of English language learner
pupils; and the number of pupils receiving educational programs under the
Exceptional Children's Educational Act, article 20 of this title 22, who are enrolled
in kindergarten through twelfth grade.
(g) Repealed.
(h) (I) With regard to a pupil who is simultaneously enrolled in a district or
institute charter school and in one or more postsecondary courses, a district or
institute charter school must submit evidence of:
(A) Enrollment in the district or institute charter school and evidence, as
provided in state board rule, of attendance for any secondary courses the pupil is
enrolled in; and
(B) Enrollment in one or more postsecondary courses, by submitting
evidence, as described in state board rule, only of the district's or institute charter
school's nonrefundable obligation to pay the student share of tuition for the
postsecondary course on behalf of the pupil.
(II) The state board by rule shall specify the number of secondary and
postsecondary course credit hours that constitute full-time and part-time
membership.
(i) (I) For the 2024-25 budget year and each budget year thereafter, a district
may include in its pupil enrollment pupils who were enrolled in the district prior to
the pupil enrollment count day and then transferred out of the district prior to the
pupil enrollment count day for the purpose of attending a recovery high school.
(II) Notwithstanding section 22-2-306, the department of education is not
required to provide advance notice requirements to a school district or an institute
charter school in implementing this subsection (10)(i).
(III) As used in this subsection (10)(i), recovery high school means a school
that:
(A) Educates and supports students in recovery from substance use or co-occurring disorders, including self-harm and disordered eating;
(B) Intends that all students enrolled are working in an active and
abstinence-focused program of recovery as determined by the student and the
school;
(C) Provides support for families learning how to live with, and provide
support for, their teens who are entering into the recovery lifestyle; and
(D) Meets state requirements for awarding a high school diploma.
(10.5) (a) Pupil enrollment count day means October 1 of each year; except
that:
(I) In any year in which October 1 is a Saturday, a Sunday, or any other day on
which school is not in session, except as described in subparagraphs (II) and (III) of
this paragraph (a), the pupil enrollment count day is the Monday following that
Saturday, Sunday, or other day;
(II) In any year in which a day of a major religious holiday occurs upon
October 1, or, in years in which October 1 falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or other day
on which school is not in session as described in subparagraph (I) of this paragraph
(a), or upon the Monday directly following October 1, the pupil enrollment count day
is the first school day immediately following the conclusion of the holiday; and
(III) The department of education is authorized to establish alternative dates
for determining pupil enrollment in appropriate circumstances, including, but not
limited to, when schools are on a year-round schedule pursuant to section 22-32-109 (1)(n) and pupils will be on authorized breaks on October 1 within the applicable
budget year; except that such alternative dates shall be set not more than forty-five school days after the first school day of the applicable school year.
(b) The state board shall promulgate rules establishing the meaning of
major religious holiday for the purposes of this subsection (10.5).
(10.7) Small rural district means a district that the department of education
determines is a rural district, based on the geographic size of the district and the
distance of the district from the nearest large, urbanized area, and that has a
funded pupil count of fewer than one thousand pupils in kindergarten through
twelfth grade.
(10.8) Special education pupils means the number of district pupils who are
children with disabilities, as defined in section 22-20-103 (5).
(11) Specific ownership tax revenue paid to the district means the amount
of specific ownership tax revenue received by the district pursuant to section 42-3-107 (24), C.R.S., for the prior budget year that is attributable to all property tax
levies made by the district except those property tax levies made for the purpose of
satisfying bonded indebtedness obligations, both principal and interest, and those
property tax levies authorized at elections held under the provisions of former
section 22-53-117 or section 22-54-108 or 22-54-108.5.
(12) State average per pupil revenues means the total program of all
districts for any budget year divided by the total funded pupil count of all districts
for said budget year.
(13) State board means the state board of education.
(14) Statewide average percentage of at-risk pupils means the total
number of at-risk pupils in all districts, as determined in accordance with
subsection (1.5) of this section, divided by the pupil enrollment of all districts, as
determined in accordance with subsection (10) of this section.
(15) Supplemental kindergarten enrollment means the number calculated
by subtracting five-tenths from the full-day kindergarten factor for the applicable
budget year and then multiplying that number by the number of pupils in the
district who are enrolled part-time in a kindergarten educational program for the
applicable budget year. For the purposes of this subsection (15), the full-day
kindergarten factor is fifty-eight hundredths of a full-day pupil.
(16) TREP program means the teacher recruitment education and
preparation program created in section 22-35-108.5.
Source: L. 94: Entire article added with relocations, p. 779, � 2, effective
April 27; (6) and (12) amended, p. 1281, � 2, effective May 22. L. 95: (1)(a)(II)
amended, p. 611, � 13, effective May 22; (11) amended, p. 951, � 1, effective May 25. L.
96: (1)(c) and (10)(a) amended, p. 1795, � 10, effective June 4. L. 97: (1)(b)(III), (1)(c),
(7), (9), and (10)(a) amended, p. 582, � 8, effective April 30. L. 98: (10)(a) and (10)(f)
amended, p. 571, � 5, effective April 30; (7) amended, p. 966, � 8, effective May 27;
(10)(a) amended, p. 658, � 4, effective August 5. L. 99: (1)(d) added, p. 176, � 2,
effective March 30. L. 2000: (1)(d) repealed, p. 1546, � 4, effective August 2. L.
2001: (1), (5.5), and (14) amended and (1.5) and (10)(a.5) added, pp. 340, 361, �� 4, 29,
effective April 16; (10)(b) and (10)(f) amended, p. 562, � 5, effective May 29. L. 2002: (1.5)(b)(III) amended, p. 1020, � 32, effective June 1; (7) and (10)(a)(II) amended and
(8.5) added, p. 1732, � 2, effective June 7. L. 2003: (10)(a)(III) added, p. 939, � 2,
effective April 16; (1), IP(1.5)(a)(III), IP(7)(b)(I), (8.5), (10)(b)(I), (10)(c), and (10)(f)
amended and (1.5)(a)(IV), (7)(c), (9.5), (10)(b)(I.5), and (10)(e.5) added, pp. 2117, 2118,
2131, 2119, �� 1, 2, 23, 3, 4, 5, effective May 22. L. 2004: (9.5), (10)(b)(I), and (10)(f)
amended and (10)(a)(IV) added, pp. 1386, 1387, �� 1, 2, effective May 28; (1.3), (7.5),
and (9.3) added and (7)(c) and (8.5) amended, p. 1636, � 42, effective July 1; (10)(e.5)
amended, p. 1213, � 105, effective August 4. L. 2005: IP(1.5)(a)(IV), (10)(b)(I), and
(10)(f) amended and (1.5)(a)(V) added, pp. 430, 434, �� 2, 7, effective April 29;
(9.5)(a) and (10)(d) amended, p. 1005, � 1, effective June 2; (11) amended, p. 1181, � 28,
effective August 8. L. 2006: (1.5)(b)(II), (5.5), IP(7)(c)(I), (9.5), (10)(b)(I), (10)(f), and (14)
amended, p. 697, � 42, effective April 28; (1.5)(a)(I), (1.5)(a)(II), (1.5)(a)(III), (1.5)(a)(IV),
and (10)(a)(III) repealed, p. 611, � 40, effective August 7. L. 2007: (11) amended, p. 38,
� 6, effective March 7; (10)(e.7) added and (10)(f) amended, p. 337, � 2, effective
April 2; (10)(a)(IV) amended, p. 733, � 2, effective May 9; (8.5) and (10)(a)(II)
amended, p. 1085, � 7, effective July 1. L. 2008: (10)(a)(IV)(B) and (10)(b)(I) amended,
p. 777, � 3, effective May 14; IP(7)(c)(I) and (9.5) amended and (7)(d), (10)(a)(V), and
(15) added, pp. 1194, 1227, 1195, �� 3, 43, 4, 5, effective May 22; (10)(f) amended, p.
1901, � 84, effective August 5. L. 2009: (7)(d)(III)(A) and (10)(a)(V) amended, (HB 09-1189), ch. 99, p. 370, � 3, effective April 3; (1.4), (5.2), and (7)(e) added and IP(7)(d)(I),
(10)(e.7), and (10)(f) amended, (HB 09-1319), ch. 286, p. 1317, �� 5, 6, effective May
21; (15) amended, (SB 09-256), ch. 294, p. 1548, � 2, effective May 21; (5.2) amended,
(SB 09-285), ch. 425, p. 2375, � 8, effective June 4; (1.5)(b)(II), (5.5), (8.5)(a)(I), and
(14) amended, (SB 09-292), ch. 369, p. 1964, � 64, effective August 5. L. 2010: IP(1.5)(a)(V) and IP(1.5)(b)(IV) amended, (SB 10-062), ch. 168, p. 595, � 13, effective
April 29; (7)(e)(V) added, (HB 10-1369), ch. 246, p. 1100, � 8, effective May 21;
(10)(a)(III.5) added, (SB 10-054), ch. 265, p. 1212, � 2, effective May 25; (9) and (12)
amended, (HB 10-1013), ch. 399, p. 1914, � 42, effective June 10. L. 2011: (15)
amended, (SB 11-157), ch. 10, p. 21, � 1, effective March 9; (10)(a)(IV)(B) and
(10)(b)(I)(B) amended, (HB 11-1077), ch. 30, p. 85, � 16, effective August 10. L. 2012: (5.2), (8.5)(a)(II), (9.5)(a), (10)(a)(I), (10)(a)(III.5), and (10)(d)(II) amended and (10.5)
added, (HB 12-1090), ch. 44, p. 155, � 20, effective March 22; (8.5)(a)(II) and
(10)(a)(II)(B) amended, (HB 12-1240), ch. 258, p. 1331, � 46, effective June 4;
IP(10)(b)(I) amended, (HB 12-1238), ch. 180, p. 672, � 14, effective July 1. L. 2013: (7)(e)(VI) added, (SB 13-260), ch. 236, p. 1138, � 2, effective May 17. L. 2014: (1.5)(a)(V) and (1.5)(b)(IV) amended, (HB 14-1298), ch. 244, p. 936, � 20, effective May
21; (10)(a)(IV)(B) and (10)(b)(I)(B) amended, (HB 14-1102), ch. 330, p. 1472, � 12,
effective August 6. L. 2015: (1.5)(b)(IV) amended, (HB 15-1323), ch. 204, p. 725, � 37,
effective May 20; IP(1.5)(b)(IV) amended, (SB 15-264), ch. 259, p. 956, � 54, effective
August 5; (5.2), IP(7)(e)(I), and (10)(e.5) amended and (9.7) added, (HB 15-1270), ch.
195, p. 655, � 2, effective August 5. L. 2018: IP amended and (10)(g) added, (SB 18-225), ch. 397, p. 2360, � 2, effective June 6. L. 2019: (7)(e)(VII) added and IP(10)(b)(I),
(10)(e.5), (10)(f), and (15) amended, (HB 19-1262), ch. 245, p. 2392, � 1, effective May
21; (10)(a)(I) amended and (10)(h) added, (SB 19-176), ch. 244, p. 2388, � 8, effective
August 2. L. 2020: (10)(a)(IV) repealed and (15) amended, (HB 20-1418), ch. 197, p
956, �� 42, 41, effective June 30. L. 2021: (1.5), (9.5)(b)(I), (10)(f), and (10.5)(a)(III)
amended and (6.5) added, (SB 21-268), ch. 222, pp. 1172, 1174, 1188, �� 6, 11, 27,
effective June 11; (5.2) amended and (16) added, (SB 21-185), ch. 246, p. 1337, � 17,
effective September 7. L. 2022: (1.5)(c)(II), (5.5), IP(7)(e)(I), (10)(d), (10)(f), and (14)
amended and (7)(f) and (9.5)(c) added, (HB 22-1295), ch. 123, p. 777, � 10, effective
July 1. L. 2023: (7)(f)(II) and (7)(f)(III) amended and (7)(f)(II.5) and (7)(f)(II.6) added,
(SB 23-287), ch. 189, p. 919, � 3, effective May 15. L. 2024: (1.3), (6), (6.5), (8.5)(a)(II),
(8.5)(b), (10)(a)(II), (10)(a)(III.5), (10)(a)(V), IP(10)(b)(I), (10)(d), (10)(f), IP(10)(h)(I),
(10.5)(b), (14), and (15) amended, (1.5)(a)(V), (1.5)(b), (1.5)(c)(II)(A), (5.5)(a), (7), and
(10)(g) repealed, and (10.8) added, (HB 24-1448), ch. 236, p. 1484, � 3, effective May
23; (5.7), (8.3), and (10.7) added, (SB 24-188), ch. 235, p. 1471, � 3, effective May 23;
(10)(i) added, (SB 24-048), ch. 405, p. 2784, � 4; effective August 7. L. 2025: (1.5)(e)
added, (HB 25-1320), ch. 236, p. 1160, � 11, effective May 23; (1.4)(b) added by
revision, (SB 25-315), ch. 237, pp. 1195, 1201, �� 14, 26; (5.2) amended, (SB 25-315),
ch. 237, p. 1195, � 14, effective July 1, 2026.