Durango School District 9-R, Colorado, elections

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Durango School District 9-R
District details
School board members: 5
Students: 5,452 (2022-2023)
Schools: 13 (2022-2023)
Website: Link

Durango School District 9-R is a school district in Colorado (La Plata County). During the 2023 school year, 5,452 students attended one of the district's 13 schools.

This page provides information regarding school board members, election rules, finances, academics, policies, and more details about the district.

Jump to a section:

Elections School board Location Budget Academic performance Students Staff Schools

Elections

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Election rules

View election rules

 

Election dates and frequency

See also: Rules governing school board election dates and timing

School board general elections in Colorado are held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November every two years in odd-numbered years.

See law: C.R.S. 22-31-104

Recent or upcoming election dates for all public school districts in the state

Below are the recent/upcoming dates for all public school districts in the state. There may be exceptions to these dates for specific districts because of local charters and district-specific exceptions and carve-outs.

• Filing deadline date: August 29, 2025
• General election date: November 4, 2025

Election system

School board members in Colorado are elected through nonpartisan general elections without primaries.

See law: C.R.S 22-30-104

Party labels on the ballot

See also: Rules governing party labels in school board elections

School board elections in Colorado are nonpartisan, which means party labels do not appear on the ballot for school board candidates. Colorado Statute Section 1-4-803(4) states, "A candidate for the office of school director shall not run as a candidate of any political party for that school directorship."

See law: C.R.S 22-30-104 and 1-4-803

Winning an election

The school board candidate that receives the largest number of votes in the general election is elected to office.

See law: C.R.S. 1-4-104

Term length and staggering

School board members have four-year terms unless a school board passes a resolution to extend the terms to six years.

Any school district coterminous with a city and county (Denver Public Schools) have four-year board member terms. As of 2022, Denver Public Schools was the only school district coterminous with a city and county.

See law: C.R.S. 22-31-105

Colorado school districts have staggered elections with as close to half of their board members as possible elected every two years to four-year terms. The board of education can extend or reduce for two years the terms of one or more board members as necessary to achieve staggered elections with as close to the same number of seats up for election as possible every two years.

See law: C.R.S. 22-31-105

Representation: at large vs. by sub-district

Except for districts coterminous with a city and county (Denver as of 2022), school board members are elected at large by default. They can be elected from residence area restriction sub-districts or through a combination of at-large and residence area restriction sub-districts if the school district passes a resolution to change district representation. Regardless of whether the district elects some or all board members from certain residence areas (sub-districts), all voters vote in each school board race up for election. As of 2022, 73% of the school districts in the state elected their school board members at large, while 21% elected their members from sub-districts, and the remaining 6% elected their members through a combination of both.

School districts coterminous with a city and county must have a seven-member board of education with one member elected from each of five director districts and two members elected from the district at large. As of 2022, Denver Public Schools was the only district coterminous with a city and county.

See law: C.R.S. 22-31-109 and C.R.S. 22-31-131

Filing deadlines and swearing-in dates

The school board candidate filing deadline is sixty-seven days before the election date.

See law: C.R.S. 22-31-107

School board candidates can circulate their nomination petitions starting when the filling window opens ninety days before the election, which is 23 days before the filing deadline.

See law: C.R.S. 22-31-107

Newly elected school board members are sworn into office no later than ten days after election results are certified.

See law: C.R.S. 22-31-125

 

About the district

School board

The Durango School District 9-R consists of five members serving four-year terms. To find information about school board meetings, click here.

List of school board members

Name	Year assumed office	Year term ends
Andrea Parmenter
Rick Petersen
Katie Stewart
Erika Brown	2020
Kristin Smith	2019

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District map

School district map

Overlapping state house districts

Durango School District 9-R

Office Name	Current Officeholder	Party	% School District Covered	% Other District Covered
Colorado House of Representatives District 59	Katie Stewart	Democratic Party	100%	22%

The table was limited to the lower chamber because it provides the most granularity. State house districts tend to be more numerous and therefore smaller than state senate or U.S. House districts. This provides an impression of the partisan affiliations in the area.

Budget

The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.

• Revenue
• Expenditures

Revenue, 2020-2021

SOURCE	AMOUNT	AMOUNT PER STUDENT	PERCENT
Federal:	$6,620,000	$955	7%
Local:	$36,260,000	$5,232	40%
State:	$48,003,000	$6,926	53%
Total:	$90,883,000	$13,113

Expenditures, 2020-2021

TYPE	AMOUNT	AMOUNT PER STUDENT	PERCENT
Total Expenditures:	$75,092,000	$10,834
Total Current Expenditures:	$69,694,000	$10,055
Instructional Expenditures:	$29,007,000	$4,185	39%
Student and Staff Support:	$6,954,000	$1,003	9%
Administration:	$24,675,000	$3,560	33%
Operations, Food Service, Other:	$9,058,000	$1,306	12%
Total Capital Outlay:	$2,917,000	$420
Construction:	$213,000	$30
Total Non El-Sec Education & Other:	$219,000	$31
Interest on Debt:	$1,845,000	$266

Academic performance

Each year, state and local education agencies use tests and other standards to assess student proficiency. Although the data below was published by the U.S. Department of Education, proficiency measurements are established by the states. As a result, proficiency levels are not comparable between different states and year-over-year proficiency levels within a district may not be comparable because states may change their proficiency measurements. To protect student privacy, percentages are reported as ranges for groups of 300 students or fewer. If five or fewer students were included in a data set, the data will display as "PS."

• Mathematics
• Reading/language arts
• Graduation rates

The following table shows the percentage of district students who scored at or above the proficiency level each school year:

School year	All (%)	Asian/Pacific Islander (%)	Black (%)	Hispanic (%)	Native American (%)	Two or More Races (%)	White (%)
2020-2021	27	>=50	<50	10-14	10-14	30-39	32
2018-2019	31	60-79	<=20	16	6-9	30-34	36
2017-2018	32	40-59	<=20	17	10-14	30-34	38
2016-2017	29	60-79	<=20	14	6-9	35-39	36
2015-2016	34	60-79	<50	22	10-14	30-34	39
2014-2015	31	21-39	21-39	18	10-14	20-24	36
2013-2014	60	60-79	21-39	43	30-34	60-69	66
2012-2013	61	60-79	>=50	41	30-34	50-59	68
2011-2012	62	60-79	<50	45	35-39	60-69	68
2010-2011	88	>=90	60-79	78	75-79		91

The following table shows the percentage of district students who scored at or above the proficiency level each school year:

School year	All (%)	Asian/Pacific Islander (%)	Black (%)	Hispanic (%)	Native American (%)	Two or More Races (%)	White (%)
2020-2021	49	<50	<50	25-29	11-19	45-49	57
2018-2019	50	60-79	21-39	33	20-24	50-54	57
2017-2018	49	60-79	21-39	32	15-19	45-49	56
2016-2017	49	>=80	21-39	31	20-24	55-59	56
2015-2016	52	60-79	<50	36	25-29	55-59	58
2014-2015	50	60-79	40-59	30	25-29	45-49	56
2013-2014	76	>=80	40-59	63	40-44	70-79	82
2012-2013	76	>=80	>=50	56	45-49	70-79	82
2011-2012	76	60-79	>=50	54	40-44	80-89	83
2010-2011	94	80-89	>=80	85	85-89		97

The following table shows the graduation rate of district students each school year:

School year	All (%)	Asian/Pacific Islander (%)	Black (%)	Hispanic (%)	Native American (%)	Two or More Races (%)	White (%)
2019-2020	79	PS	PS	60-69	>=50	>=80	80-84
2018-2019	73	>=50	>=50	65-69	>=50	>=50	75-79
2017-2018	78	PS	PS	70-79	>=50	>=50	80-84
2016-2017	83		PS	70-79	>=50	>=50	85-89
2015-2016	80	PS	PS	70-79	<50	>=50	85-89
2014-2015	79	PS	PS	70-79	>=50	PS	80-84
2013-2014	82	PS	PS	70-79	<50	PS	85-89
2012-2013	72	PS	PS	60-69	21-39	>=50	75-79
2011-2012	77	PS	PS	60-69	>=50	PS	80-84
2010-2011	69	PS	PS	40-44	40-59		77

Students

The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.

• Enrollment
• Demographics

Year	Enrollment	Year-to-year change (%)
2022-2023	5,452	-6.3
2021-2022	5,794	-19.6
2020-2021	6,931	20.0
2019-2020	5,545	2.3
2018-2019	5,419	3.1
2017-2018	5,251	3.8
2016-2017	5,053	7.0
2015-2016	4,697	2.8
2014-2015	4,564	-2.3
2013-2014	4,670	1.7
2012-2013	4,590	0.7
2011-2012	4,559	-2.8
2010-2011	4,688	-0.2
2009-2010	4,699	-3.4
2008-2009	4,858	0.8
2007-2008	4,820	1.1
2006-2007	4,768	2.3
2005-2006	4,658	1.2
2004-2005	4,604	-0.3
2003-2004	4,618	-3.1
2002-2003	4,761	0.3
2001-2002	4,747	-7.0
2000-2001	5,077	4.5
1999-2000	4,850	0.0

Racial Demographics, 2022-2023

RACE	Durango School District 9-R (%)	Colorado K-12 STUDENTS (%)
American Indian/Alaska Native	5.0	0.6
Asian or Asian/Pacific Islander	0.9	3.3
Black	0.8	4.6
Hispanic	22.1	35.3
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander	0.2	0.3
Two or More Races	4.8	5.1
White	66.1	50.8

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.

Staff

The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.

• Teachers
• Administrators
• Other staff

As of the 2022-2023 school year, Durango School District 9-R had 389.03 full-time classroom teachers. The student-teacher ratio was 14.01.

Teachers, 2022-2023 school year

TYPE	NUMBER OF TEACHERS
Prekindergarten:	13.66
Kindergarten:	27.46
Elementary:	173.56
Secondary:	174.35
Total:	389.03

Durango School District 9-R employed 19.56 district administrators and 27.91 school administrators as of the 2022-2023 school year.

Administrators, 2022-2023 school year

TYPE	NUMBER OF ADMINISTRATORS
District Administrators:	19.56
District Administrative Support:	28.21
School Administrators:	27.91
School Administrative Support:	37.74

Other staff, 2022-2023 school year

TYPE	NUMBER OF OTHER STAFF
Instructional Aides:	72.85
Instruc. Coordinators & Supervisors:	24.28
Total Guidance Counselors:	24.58
Elementary Guidance Counselors:	7.39
Secondary Guidance Counselors:	13.05
Librarians/Media Specialists:	1.23
Library/Media Support:	4.79
Student Support Services:	75.75
Other Support Services:	95.67

Schools

The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.

The Durango School District 9-R operates 13 schools. They are listed below in alphabetical order.

List of schools

SCHOOL NAME	NUMBER OF STUDENTS	GRADES
Animas Valley Elementary School	188	PK-5
Colorado Connections Academy @ Durango	964	KG-12
Durango Big Picture High School	86	9-12
Durango High School	1,369	9-12
Escalante Middle School	534	6-8
Florida Mesa Elementary School	278	PK-5
Fort Lewis Mesa Elementary School	98	PK-5
Miller Middle School	415	6-8
Needham Elementary School	388	PK-5
Park Elementary School	425	PK-5
Riverview Elementary School	439	PK-5
Sunnyside Elementary School	106	PK-5
The Juniper School	162	KG-6

About school boards

Education legislation in Colorado

Bills are monitored by BillTrack50 and sorted by action history.

See also

School Boards	Education Policy	Local Politics	Colorado
List of school districts in Colorado Colorado school board elections, 2025 School board elections, 2025 School board recalls School board authority in Colorado	Colorado Department of Education Public education in Colorado	Municipal government Local courts Local ballot measures Recalls	Colorado Colorado elections, 2025 Colorado State Legislature Colorado state executive offices

External links

Office website

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