The Roaring Fork Schools Board of Education listened to an informational presentation from Colorado Mountain College President Matt Gianneschi and Vice President Steve Skadron during its Sept. 24 board meeting. 

Colorado Mountain College is seeking support for the 7C November ballot measure, an initiative that would allow the college to restore its authority to use mill levy provisions that were approved by voters in 2018. 

Gianneschi and Skadron gave a strictly informational presentation to the RFSD board. The college is seeking endorsement on the upcoming initiative — though Gianneschi acknowledged the possible conflict of interest. 

“We are here to potentially seek your endorsement, if that’s something the board chooses to do. Recognizing my board typically doesn’t take positions within their own tax district, we understand if you’re not able to do so,” Gianneschi said during the presentation. 

If approved, the measure would allow CMC to expand training for nurses, first responders, in-demand skilled trades, and develop innovative housing strategies aimed at retaining talent in mountain communities, all without imposing any new taxes and staying within the limits the voters approved in 2018, an August release from CMC explained. 

“One of our goals is to expand opportunities for skilled trades, not only so that high school students can complete their credentials, but so we can also train the local adult workforce in those same skills,” Gianneschi said during the presentation. 

Gianneschi presented statistics highlighting the  symbiotic relationship between the college and school districts throughout the Western Slope. 

“42% of our 14,000 enrolled students are concurrent enrollment students throughout all the districts that we work with,” he said. “Many of those students are enrolled in skilled trades, which is terrific. The programming we do here in the Roaring Fork School District, including the automotive program, are terrific. They’re full with wait lists which is exactly what we want to see.”

The upcoming measure is on the ballot in response to the state legislature enacting HB24B-1001 in 2024, which caps local governments’ revenue growth at 5.25% above the prior years growth — restricting CMC’s ability to adjust its revenues and mill levy within the approval of voters. 

“This November’s vote is about reaffirming the trust voters placed in us in 2018,” CMC Board of Trustees President Chris Romer said in the release. “It is not a tax increase; it’s a restoration of local control, grounded in the investment our communities made in us seven years ago. With this flexibility, CMC will expand programs that are vital to local employers and lead to good jobs for students.”

Although the board only heard the presentation and took no action during the Sept. 24 meeting, board member Lindsay DeFrates was outspoken about her support of the measure — even mentioning her desire to have the board draft a resolution in support of the initiative. 

“Some of our priorities identified within our strategic plans directly have to do with workforce development from students who are from our district and from diverse backgrounds,” she said. “I know that we’re relying on the work that CMC does to accomplish that, and I think there’s a very clear overlap in our priorities — especially focused on skilled trades and mountain towns. 

“Rural communities are getting hit hard with the shift at school budget formulas at the state level, and we just want to make sure that we are keeping the local support that we can,” she continued. “I’m already voicing that our board finds time to do it, and I’m personally going to try to get that resolution in front of us sooner rather than later.”

The next regularly scheduled board meeting will be held at 6:15 p.m., Wednesday Oct. 8 at the Roaring Fork District Office, 400 Sopris Ave., Carbondale. 
For more information, visit rfschools.com.