Colorado Department of Education

Colorado officials are scrutinizing 42 homeschool enrichment program applications from Education reEnvisioned Board of Cooperative Educational Services (ERBOCES) under new state laws aimed at curbing rapid growth and increasing transparency. The state requires approval for out-of-boundary programs, with ERBOCES seeking to maintain its offerings despite regulatory challenges.

Colorado's state board is considering stricter regulations for facility schools serving students with intense needs after a school faced sanctions over physical restraint complaints. The Austin Centers for Exceptional Students, which opened in Colorado in 2024, has been sued multiple times in Arizona for alleged staff misconduct. Proposed changes include requiring legal history disclosures and giving the board discretion to approve or deny applications.

Colorado has implemented stricter rules for state-funded homeschool enrichment programs to address funding abuses and lack of transparency. The new regulations, prompted by law changes in late May, restrict programs from being authorized by distant entities and limit offerings to those available to public school students. Private schools can no longer receive state funding for designated enrichment time, and the co-op Education reEnvisioned Board of Cooperative Educational Services (ERBOCES) is barred from operating programs outside its member districts.

The Austin Centers for Exceptional Students (The ACES) in Colorado faces scrutiny for physically restraining students, including an 11-year-old boy with autism who described being pinned in a distressing manner. The school, part of a new 'specialized day school' category, is under state sanctions and losing funding after complaints, with parents and advocates criticizing its practices as unsafe and coercive.

Colorado student math proficiency improved across most grades, but literacy results were mixed with some increases and declines. Preliminary CMAS test results show progress in math and varied literacy outcomes, with full data to be released in August.

Colorado’s Riverstone Academy, a public Christian school, dropped its religious discrimination lawsuit against the state after changes to state law rendered it moot. The school, which received state funding but faces potential closure due to new legislative restrictions, had argued that funding clawbacks violated the First Amendment. The lawsuit termination ends efforts to use the case to expand religious school inclusion in public education.