Board approves $275,000 campus‑select budget and highlights $19.2 million in college‑credit savings

The Poudre School District board unanimously approved a request on May 12 to authorize expenditures that will allow the district to cover campus‑select college credits for students, confirming a $275,000 capped budget line for that purpose.

District presenters said the authorization covers campus‑select costs (when students take courses on a college campus or through campus tuition arrangements) and will enable the district to continue paying tuition, books and fees for eligible students. Director of postsecondary workforce readiness Tanya Alcaraz and concurrent enrollment coordinator Kristen Bisoncini described state policy changes that shift funding toward student outcomes — college credits, industry certifications and work‑based learning — and noted that the new outcome‑based funding model reduces program dollars but ties reimbursement to students completing those outcomes.

Kristen Bisoncini told the board PSD had more than 4,000 unique concurrent‑enrollment students in 2024–25, with roughly 9,000 completed courses and a 94% pass rate for high‑school‑taught concurrent enrollment classes. Bisoncini said campus‑select expenditures are a fixed district cost that exceed the $250,000 procurement threshold and therefore required board approval; the district’s campus‑select line item was described as $275,000.

Treasury and budget staff presented a district calculation of tuition savings to families. Julie Chaplin, who ran the figures, reported the estimated avoided tuition cost for students who earned college credits in 2024–25 was $19,219,390 (based on a conservative $400 per credit valuation). "That's a good 20,000,000 savings to families in PSD," Chaplin said when summarizing the spreadsheet math.

Board members asked clarifying questions about program equity, transferability of credits and transportation barriers for off‑campus classes; staff said the district is prioritizing on‑campus, high‑school‑select offerings where pass rates and access are strongest and will continue to expand concurrent offerings on high‑school campuses. The motion to approve the expenditures passed 7‑0.

What this means: The approved cap allows PSD to continue supporting students who take college courses through campus‑select arrangements while staff and the committee explore longer-term funding strategies under the state’s outcome‑based changes.