Education

As Douglas County’s home-rule election gets underway, the battle is already red hot. Here’s what’s at stake.

Tempers are rising in Douglas County, where an effort to seek home-rule authority is running up against an opposition that feels like the whole process has been shrouded in secrecy.

A "Yes on Local Control" sign is seen on the northbound side of Interstate 25 near the Happy Canyon Parkway exit in Castle Pines on Thursday, June 5, 2025. (Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)

Kids sit on the school bus outside of Stephen Knight Center for Early Education as the school closed early due to extreme heat on Sept. 7, 2022 in Denver. Stephen Knight Center of Early Education is one of more than 30 public schools in Denver without air conditioning that are releasing students early this week or closing entirely due to the record-breaking heat wave sweeping through Colorado. Some of these schools were supposed to have cooling systems installed this summer, Denver Public Schools spokesman Scott Pribble said, but supply chain issues stalled the project. DPS hopes to have some of them completed by the end of September. ÒMitigation strategies in place aren't expected to work like we hoped,Ó Pribble said, noting that the district has portable air conditioning units and large fans. ÒBecause of that, we're making the decision to shut down early.Ó (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)

Denver Public Schools predicts enrollment declines may necessitate more school closures by 2030

4 days ago

FILE – Students sit on the front steps of Low Memorial Library on the Columbia University campus in New York City, Feb. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)

Top US universities raced to become global campuses. Under Trump, it’s becoming a liability

4 days ago

LEFT: Speller Ved Raju, of Denver, representing The Denver Post, competes in a preliminary round for the 2025 Scripps National Spelling Bee on May 27, 2025 in National Harbor, MD. RIGHT: Speller Blanche Li, of Boulder, Colorado, representing Boulder Valley School District, competes in a preliminary round for the 2025 Scripps National Spelling Bee on May 27, 2025 in National Harbor, MD. (Photos by Craig Hudson/Scripps National Spelling Bee)

Colorado brainiacs breeze through first three rounds at spelling bee

By Elizabeth Hernandez

May 28, 2025 at 3:01 p.m.

Ved Raju aced “faipule” and Blanche Li nailed “Inuk” in the Scripps National Spelling Bee’s...

FILE – A relief sculpture rests on a gate to the entrance of Harvard University, in Cambridge, Mass., March 13, 2016. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

Trump administration moves to cut $100 million in federal contracts for Harvard

By The Associated Press

May 27, 2025 at 12:15 p.m.

The Trump administration is asking federal agencies to cancel remaining contracts with Harvard University.

Denver Public Schools Board of Education President Dr. Carrie Olson, left, talks with Superintendent Alex Marrero before a board meeting at DPS headquarters in Denver on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. Dr. Marrero presented a list of schools recommend for closure that have to be approved later by the board. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)

DPS schools with years of low test scores to once again face closure

By Jessica Seaman

May 27, 2025 at 6:00 a.m.

Superintendent Alex Marrero's School Transformation Process policy goes into effect in August.

In this May 2, 1980, photo, Jacques Bailly of Denver, left, poses for a photo after winning the National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. He correctly spelled the word "elucubrate." (AP Photo/File)

Denver has sent the most champions to the Scripps National Spelling Bee

By Elizabeth Hernandez

May 26, 2025 at 6:00 a.m.

Seven spellers who advanced from Colorado State Spelling Bee in Denver have won the national...

A firetruck drives through a neighborhood in Colorado Springs in 2012, during the Waldo Canyone fire. The Evergreen Fire Protection District has approved a $500 fee for responding to car accidents and other emergencies for nonresidents. (Karl Gehring, Denver Post file)

Hundreds of Colorado students are setting their computers on fire for viral challenge

By Lauren Penington

May 25, 2025 at 6:12 p.m.

Colorado schools have reported more than 200 incidents in recent weeks of laptops smoking and...

Emily Dara Miller, an acquisitions, media & teen collection development librarian, works on her computer that shows availability of digital books at the Jefferson County Library's Library Service Center in Wheat Ridge, Colorado on April 14, 2025. Dara Miller oversees digital acquisitions, helps with e-books and DVDs and helps to select what to buy for the library’s collection. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)

Rising popularity, cost of e-books forces some Colorado libraries to limit access

By Lauren Penington

May 25, 2025 at 11:45 a.m.

The boom in e-book popularity is accompanied by a rise in cost, forcing some Colorado...

Former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb, center, holds a community meeting at the Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library in Denver on Wednesday, May 21, 2025. Former state Rep. Wilma Webb, left, and activist Peggy Wortham show photos of Mayor Webb’s desk that was removed from third floor of the library. (Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)

Denver Public Library apologizes for removal of Black history displays at Blair-Caldwell library

By Noelle Phillips

May 24, 2025 at 6:00 a.m.

The decision to remove display cases featuring prominent Black Denverites from the Blair-Caldwell African American...

FILE – A sculler rows down the Charles River near Harvard University, at rear, Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

Federal judge blocks Trump administration from barring foreign student enrollment at Harvard

By The Associated Press

May 23, 2025 at 11:47 a.m.

Harvard sued the Trump administration earlier Friday.

FILE – People walk between buildings, Dec. 17, 2024, on the campus of Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

Trump administration bars Harvard from enrolling foreign students

By The Associated Press

May 22, 2025 at 3:21 p.m.

The administration says thousands of current students must transfer to other schools or leave the...

A school bus parked outside of Martin Luther King Jr. Early College High School and Middle School in this 2015 file photo.

Denver Public Schools’ employee paychecks delayed — but they’re coming, district says

By Jessica Seaman

May 22, 2025 at 3:45 p.m.

Spokesman Scott Pribble said the district did not immediately know how many workers were affected,...

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