Colorado school board elections, 2017

Elections

A total of 22 Colorado school districts among America's largest school districts by enrollment held elections in 2017 for 69 seats. All of the elections were scheduled on November 7, 2017.

The deadline to run for school board in Colorado was September 1, 2017. According to the Colorado Association of School Boards, prospective candidates were required to be "a resident of the school district and a registered voter for at least 12 consecutive months prior to the election. If the school district has director districts in its plan of representation, the person must be a resident of the director district in which he or she is a candidate. No person who has been convicted of a sexual offense against a child is eligible to serve on the school board. Because school director elections are nonpartisan, candidates may not campaign as members of a political party." Prospective candidates were required to contact their local school district, county clerk, or recorder’s office to obtain a nomination petition to get on the ballot.

Here are several quick facts about Colorado's school board elections in 2017:

• The largest Colorado school district by enrollment with an election in 2017 was Denver Public Schools with 88,839 K-12 students in the 2014-2015 school year.
• The smallest Colorado school district among the nation's largest with an election in 2017 was the Widefield School District 3 with 9,283 K-12 students in the 2014-2015 school year.
• Four districts were tied for the most seats on the 2017 ballot with four seats up for election each.
• Four districts were tied for the fewest seats on the 2017 ballot with two seats up for election each.

The districts listed below served 690,695 K-12 students during the 2014-2015 school year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Click on the district names for more information on each one and its school board elections.

2017 Colorado School Board Elections
District	Primary Election	General Election	Runoff Election	Regular term length	Seats up for election	Total board seats	2014-15 enrollment
Academy School District 20	N/A	11/7/2017	N/A	4	3	5	24,578
Adams 12 Five Star Schools	N/A	11/7/2017	N/A	4	2	5	38,701
Aurora Public Schools	N/A	11/7/2017	N/A	4	4	7	41,729
Boulder Valley School District	N/A	11/7/2017	N/A	4	3	7	30,908
School District 27J	N/A	11/7/2017	N/A	4	4	7	17,129
Cherry Creek School District	N/A	11/7/2017	N/A	4	2	5	54,535
Colorado Springs School District 11	N/A	11/7/2017	N/A	4	4	7	28,332
Denver Public Schools	N/A	11/7/2017	N/A	4	4	7	88,839
Douglas County School District	N/A	11/7/2017	N/A	4	4	7	66,702
Falcon School District 49	N/A	11/7/2017	N/A	4	3	5	19,552
Poudre School District	N/A	11/7/2017	N/A	4	3	7	29,053
Mesa County Valley School District 51	N/A	11/7/2017	N/A	4	3	5	21,746
Greeley-Evans School District 6	N/A	11/7/2017	N/A	4	4	7	21,236
Harrison School District Two	N/A	11/7/2017	N/A	4	3	5	11,441
Jeffco Public Schools	N/A	11/7/2017	N/A	4	3	5	86,581
Littleton Public Schools	N/A	11/7/2017	N/A	4	3	5	15,691
Pueblo City Schools	N/A	11/7/2017	N/A	4	2	5	17,979
Pueblo School District 70	N/A	11/7/2017	N/A	4	3	5	9,310
St. Vrain Valley School District	N/A	11/7/2017	N/A	4	3	7	31,076
Thompson School District	N/A	11/7/2017	N/A	4	3	7	16,133
Westminster Public Schools	N/A	11/7/2017	N/A	4	2	5	10,161
Widefield School District 3	N/A	11/7/2017	N/A	4	4	5	9,283

November 7 election results

Colorado school board incumbents see higher success rate compared to 2015

A total of 90.48 percent of school board incumbents in 22 of Colorado’s largest school districts won re-election on November 7, 2017. That was higher than the 83.33 percent success rate incumbents experienced in the same school districts in 2015. A higher percentage of incumbents ran for re-election in 2017 as well. A total of 60.87 percent of incumbents whose seats were on the ballot in 2017 ran for another term, while 55.38 percent ran for another term in 2015.

Newcomers won 44.93 percent of seats on the ballot in those 22 school districts in 2017. That was a lower percentage than 53.85 percent of seats newcomers won in 2015.

Issues

23% of Colorado’s largest school districts cancel school board elections

A total of 23 percent of Colorado’s largest school districts canceled school board elections that were scheduled to be held on November 7, 2017, due to lack of opposition. The Cherry Creek, Falcon District 49, Littleton, Pueblo District 70, and St. Vrain Valley school districts voted to cancel the elections and instead appoint the unopposed candidates to the positions they filed for.

All of the seats on the Greeley-Evans School District 6 and the Widefield School District 3 school boards were also unopposed, but the districts did not cancel their elections as they also had questions on the ballot. Together, the seven school districts with completely unopposed races accounted for 32 percent of the 22 largest school districts that were scheduled to hold school board elections on November 7, 2017.

Academic performance

See also: Public education in Colorado

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Education terms
For more information on education policy terms, see this article.
School board elections portal Glossary of education terms School choice on the ballot Education on the ballot

NAEP scores

See also: NAEP scores by state

The National Center for Education Statistics provides state-by-state data on student achievement levels in mathematics and reading in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The chart below presents the percentage of fourth and eighth grade students that scored at or above proficient in reading and math during school year 2012-2013. Compared to three neighboring states (New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming), students in Colorado earned the highest scores in every category.

Percent of students scoring at or above proficient, 2012-2013
	Math - Grade 4	Math - Grade 8	Reading - Grade 4	Reading - Grade 8
Colorado	50%	42%	41%	40%
New Mexico	31%	23%	21%	22%
Utah	44%	36%	37%	39%
Wyoming	48%	38%	37%	38%
United States	41%	34%	34%	34%
Source: United States Department of Education, ED Data Express, "State Tables," accessed May 13, 2014

Graduation, ACT and SAT scores

See also: Graduation rates by groups in state and ACT and SAT scores in the United States

The following table shows the graduation rates and average composite ACT and SAT scores for Colorado and surrounding states during the 2012-2013 school year. All statements made in this section refer to that school year.

In the United States, public schools reported graduation rates that averaged to about 81.4 percent. About 54 percent of all students in the country took the ACT, while 50 percent reported taking the SAT. The average national composite scores for those tests were 20.9 out of a possible 36 for the ACT, and 1498 out of a possible 2400 for the SAT.

Colorado schools reported a graduation rate of 76.9 percent, second lowest among its neighboring states.

In Colorado, more students took the ACT than the SAT, earning an average ACT score of 20.4.

Comparison table for graduation rates and test scores, 2012-2013
State	Graduation rate, 2013		Average ACT composite, 2013		Average SAT composite, 2013
	Percent	Quintile ranking**	Score	Participation rate	Score	Participation rate
Colorado	76.9%	Fourth	20.4	100%	1,721	14%
New Mexico	70.3%	Fifth	19.9	70%	1,626	12%
Utah	83%	Third	20.7	100%	1,684	6%
Wyoming	77%	Fourth	19.8	100%	1,757	4%
United States	81.4%		20.9	54%	1498	50%
**Graduation rates for states in the first quintile ranked in the top 20 percent nationally. Similarly, graduation rates for states in the fifth quintile ranked in the bottom 20 percent nationally. Sources: United States Department of Education, "ED Data Express" ACT.org, "2013 ACT National and State Scores" The Commonwealth Foundation, "SAT scores by state, 2013"

Dropout rate

See also: Public high school dropout rates by state for a full comparison of dropout rates by group in all states

The high school event dropout rate indicates the proportion of students who were enrolled at some time during the school year and were expected to be enrolled in grades nine through 12 in the following school year but were not enrolled by October 1 of the following school year. Students who have graduated, transferred to another school, died, moved to another country, or who are out of school due to illness are not considered dropouts. The average public high school event dropout rate for the United States remained constant at 3.3 percent for both school year 2010–2011 and school year 2011–2012. The event dropout rate for Colorado was higher than the national average at 5.1 percent in the 2010-2011 school year, and 4.9 percent in the 2011-2012 school year.

State profile

State profile

Demographic data for Colorado
	Colorado	U.S.
Total population:	5,448,819	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	103,642	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	84.2%	73.6%
Black/African American:	4%	12.6%
Asian:	2.9%	5.1%
Native American:	0.9%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0.1%	0.2%
Two or more:	3.5%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	21.1%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	90.7%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	38.1%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$60,629	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	13.5%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Colorado. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in Colorado

Colorado voted for the Democratic candidate in five out of the seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.

Pivot Counties (2016)

Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, four are located in Colorado, accounting for 1.94 percent of the total pivot counties.

Pivot Counties (2020)

In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Colorado had three Retained Pivot Counties and one Boomerang Pivot County, accounting for 1.66 and 4.00 percent of all Retained and Boomerang Pivot Counties, respectively.

More Colorado coverage on Ballotpedia

• Elections in Colorado
• United States congressional delegations from Colorado
• Public policy in Colorado
• Endorsers in Colorado
• Colorado fact checks
• More...

See also

Colorado	School Boards	News and Analysis
Public education in Colorado List of school districts in Colorado	School board elections, 2017 Colorado school board elections, 2016 Colorado school board elections, 2015 Colorado school board elections, 2014	School boards in session: 2015 in brief School board incumbency analysis: 2015 in brief Analysis of spending in America's largest school districts Ballotpedia's school board candidate survey

Footnotes

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