Krista Holtzmann
Krista Holtzmann was a member of the Douglas County School District Board of Directors in Colorado, representing District G. She assumed office on December 12, 2017. She left office on November 29, 2021.
Holtzmann (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Colorado State Board of Education to represent Colorado's 4th Congressional District. She lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Biography
Krista Holtzmann was born in Frankfurt, Germany. Holtzmann's work experience includes serving as an assistant state's attorney in Iowa and Illinois, as a volunteer attorney at the Rocky Mountain Children's Law Center, and as a family law attorney for a private practice. She has served on four school accountability committees in the district, and she has served other volunteer roles in the district as well, including as a classroom and library volunteer. Holtzmann earned both a bachelor's degree in child development and a J.D. from the University of Missouri in 1991 and 1994, respectively. She and her husband have two children who both graduated from the district.[1][2][3]
Elections
2024
See also: Colorado State Board of Education election, 2024
General election
General election for Colorado State Board of Education District 4
Kristi Burton Brown defeated Krista Holtzmann in the general election for Colorado State Board of Education District 4 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Kristi Burton Brown (R)  | 60.5 | 263,234 |
 | Krista Holtzmann (D) | 39.5 | 171,565 | |
| Total votes: 434,799 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Colorado State Board of Education District 4
Krista Holtzmann advanced from the Democratic primary for Colorado State Board of Education District 4 on June 25, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Krista Holtzmann | 100.0 | 45,458 |
| Total votes: 45,458 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Colorado State Board of Education District 4
Kristi Burton Brown defeated Saundra Larsen in the Republican primary for Colorado State Board of Education District 4 on June 25, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Kristi Burton Brown | 53.4 | 56,540 |
 | Saundra Larsen | 46.6 | 49,244 | |
| Total votes: 105,784 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign finance
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Holtzmann in this election.
2021
See also: Douglas County School District, Colorado, elections (2021)
General election
General election for Douglas County School District Board of Directors District G
Kaylee Winegar defeated incumbent Krista Holtzmann in the general election for Douglas County School District Board of Directors District G on November 2, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Kaylee Winegar (Nonpartisan) | 55.0 | 65,838 | |
| Krista Holtzmann (Nonpartisan) | 45.0 | 53,850 | |
| Total votes: 119,688 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
To view Holtzmann's endorsements in the 2021 election, please click here.
2017
Four of the seven seats on the Douglas County School District Board of Education in Colorado were up for nonpartisan general election on November 7, 2017. No incumbents filed to run for re-election, which guaranteed four new members were elected to the board. The race featured two candidate slates. The Community Matters slate—Anthony Graziano, Chris Schor, Kevin Leung, and Krista Holtzmann—won the election after campaigning against the policies of the board's 4-3 governing majority. They defeated the Elevate Douglas County slate—Ryan Abresch, Randy Mills, Grant Nelson, and Debora Scheffel—which campaigned in support of continuing programs started by the governing majority.[4][5]
Results
| Douglas County School District, District G General Election, 4-year term, 2017 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Krista Holtzmann |
57.62% | 52,018 |
| Debora Scheffel | 42.38% | 38,267 |
| Total Votes | 90,285 | |
| Source: Colorado Secretary of State, "Official Results," accessed August 28, 2023 | ||
Funding
Holtzmann reported $22,972.02 in contributions and $22,972.02 in expenditures to the Colorado Secretary of State, which left her campaign with a $0.00 balance in the election.[6]
Endorsements
Holtzmann and the other members of the Community Matters slate were endorsed by the organization Douglas County Parents.[7] They were also endorsed by 12 former Douglas County Board of Education members. Click here to read their letter of support that was published in The Denver Post. They were also endorsed by former officials and members of the community. Click here for a list of their supporters.
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Krista Holtzmann did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign website
Holtzmann’s campaign website stated the following:
| “ |
Volunteer, Public Servant, Child Advocate Krista has a long history of serving kids in her community. After obtaining a degree in child development, Krista worked at the University of Missouri Child Development Center while attending law school. Upon graduation, she served as the Director of Operations for the Iowa Child Protective Training Academy and later worked as a prosecuting attorney in the areas of child protection and juvenile delinquency in both Iowa and Illinois. Almost 25 years ago, Krista and her husband, Dave, moved to Colorado with their two young sons, where Dave has been a healthcare provider and small business owner and Krista has been a committed school and community volunteer, and has served in a variety of pro bono legal roles. Volunteering in her children’s schools strengthened Krista’s appreciation for educators and highlighted the importance of strong partnerships between families and schools. Her desire to give back to the many educators who helped meet the unique needs of her children is what drove Krista’s desire to serve her community on the Douglas County School District Board of Education. As a board member, Krista was elected by her school board peers across the state to serve on the Board of Directors of the Colorado Association of School Boards. While her most recent experience is in a large district, Krista grew up in a small town in southeast Missouri where her mother was a teacher, and her father, an Army Veteran, served on the local school board. Their service gave Krista an early appreciation for the importance of family, community, and service to others. The public school was a central hub of the community, where neighbors often gathered to support students and one another. This background was instrumental as she chose to focus her professional career on helping children and families. Krista believes strongly that every child, no matter where they live in Colorado, deserves to have their individual needs recognized, to be given endless opportunities to learn and grow, and to be part of an educational community that prioritizes their education. She is excited to advocate for the best interests of all 881,464 Colorado public school students. [8] |
” |
| —Krista Holtzmann’s campaign website (2024)[9] | ||
2021
Krista Holtzmann completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Holtzmann's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
My family and I have lived in Douglas County for over 20 years. My husband (a healthcare worker and small business owner) and I will always be grateful for the excellent educational opportunities provided to our sons, Will and Jake, from kindergarten to graduation at Chaparral High School in 2015 and 2016.
Though I began learning about the challenges facing our schools as a mom volunteering in classrooms, DCSD’s strong foundation, upon which to build was also apparent. The experience I’ve gained over the last four years as a Board member is critical. Additionally experience as an attorney helps me analyze complex situations to make decisions in the best interests of our students. And as the daughter of a teacher, and a former preschool teacher myself, I understand the resources teachers need to best educate our students.
- Outstanding teachers and staff are the most critical resource we provide our students at school. During my time on the Board we have worked hard to increase employee compensation by over $65 million. We intentionally designate 85% of our budgeted revenue to compensation. Our license teacher salaries are now above average in the Denver Metro area. Though we still have work to do, we have restored employees harmed by pay freezes. And have made great strides to address pay gaps and disparities created by a misguided market-based pay system enacted during the DCSD Reform years. Our teacher retention has improved by 1/3 during my time on the Board. And every year I’m excited to see some of DCSD’s best and brightest return to DCSD.
- Stable leadership and taking care of our outstanding educators and staff have paid off for our students as reflected in the highest graduation rate in the metro area, and performance scores that exceed state averages in all areas and grades, as well as being higher than every other Denver Metro District, except one. Additionally, even in the midst of a pandemic, our graduates earned over $110 million in scholarships.
- We gained approval of the first local bond and MLO funding increase in 12 years. This launched one of the most comprehensive capital improvement projects in DCSD history by ensuring that every school received desperately needed upgrades and repairs to sustain the next generation of students and enhanced physical security at each of our schools (including our charter schools).
I'm so appreciative that our community passed a bond and mill levy override in 2018. This is the first local funding increase in DCSD in over 12 years. This allowed us to undertake the largest comprehensive capital improvements projects in DCSD history, increase teacher and staff compensation and add additional counselors to our schools. It's my hope our local community will continue to provide our students with critical financial resources so that we can keep the positive momentum going in DCSD.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
2017
Candidate website
Holtzmann highlighted the following frequently asked questions and her responses to them on her campaign website:
| “ | 1. What do you see as the biggest challenges and opportunities in our school district?
2. What is your assessment of the current pay for performance system used by the district?
3. Do you support a mil levy override and bond?
4. Do you support vouchers/Educational Savings Accounts (ESAs)?
5. What do you think about charter schools in Douglas County?
6. What are your thoughts on the current budget for DCSD?
7. What ideas do you have to attract and retain quality teachers in spite of state and district funding?
8. As a school Board member, how will you work to ensure that parent, students, and community members have a voice, and that Board practices are transparent and accountable to taxpayers?
9. What do you think are the biggest challenges facing our students?
|
” |
| —Krista Holtzmann (2017)[10] | ||
Chalkbeat Colorado survey
Holtzmann participated in the following survey conducted by Chalkbeat Colorado. The questions provided in the survey appear bolded, and Holtzmann's responses appear below.
Tell us a bit about yourself. How long have you lived in the school district? What do you do for a living?
| “ | My husband, Dave, and I have been married for 23 years and have lived in Parker for the past 17 years. We have two children who began kindergarten at Pine Grove Elementary and graduated from Chaparral High School in 2015 and 2016. Professionally, I'm an attorney with a degree in child development. Most recently, I was a volunteer attorney at the Rocky Mountain Children's Law Center. Currently, I am devoting my full-time efforts to advocating for the students of Douglas County by running for the Douglas County School Board.[8] | ” |
| —Krista Holtzmann (2017)[11] | ||
Tell us about your connection to the school district.
| “ | While (our children) Jake and Will were in school I often served as a school volunteer in (their) classrooms and after-school activities. I was a member of the School Accountability Committee at each school they attended, serving in various roles as DAC liaison and chairperson.[8] | ” |
| —Krista Holtzmann (2017)[11] | ||
If elected, would you continue the district's legal fight to enact a private school voucher system? Why or why not?
| “ | Though I am a strong supporter of public school choice, I do not believe private school vouchers would be helpful to our community’s mission to provide quality public education for every child. As the board serves the public school students in the district and given the financial struggles of our own public schools, diverting funding from public into private schools would place a further strain on the district’s limited resources.
Furthermore, private schools are currently able to choose whom they admit. As long as they do not accept public money, this is perfectly within their rights. However, if public money started to flow to these schools, we could be subsidizing discrimination against children for any reason the private school chooses. Taxpayers would lose all accountability as to how their tax dollars are spent. As a person of faith, I believe that religious institutions should be the ones to support the faith-based education they provide, thereby preserving their ability to teach without government restrictions. Additionally, since the voucher amount would not be enough to pay the full tuition of a local private school for most students, vouchers would really only be a subsidy for families wealthy enough to pay the remainder of the cost not covered by the voucher. Public money must provide opportunities for ALL children, not just some.[8] |
” |
| —Krista Holtzmann (2017)[11] | ||
One of your most important tasks will be to select a new superintendent for the district. What characteristics will you seek in a new leader?
| “ | I will look for a superintendent who understands that the best leaders are servants first. The superintendent I would look for would have a deep commitment to serving our community and ensuring quality public schools for every child. He or she would be interested in hearing the voices of and building relationships with our parents, teachers and community members. Over the past few months as I have asked this question repeatedly of many community members, the one characteristic that every person has mentioned is a person who has a great deal of experience as a teacher and knowledge about education. It would also be important to me that this person has knowledge and experience that would help our district set financial priorities and best navigate financial challenges.[8] | ” |
| —Krista Holtzmann (2017)[11] | ||
If elected, would you seek to make changes to the way the district pays its teachers? How?
| “ | Yes. Our community, including our teachers, agrees that paying teachers more for excellence is a good idea. We even led the nation in the mid 1990s in implementing one of the first such systems. Unfortunately, the changes made to this system since the reforms began eight years ago were based on a flawed evaluation system and an arbitrary structure of market-based pay bands which has not met the ultimate goals of supporting teachers or improving student learning. Our budget does not provide competitive salaries for our teachers. The reform board directed district leadership to create an arbitrary system that has failed. The district cannot claim to have a “market-based" pay system if a teacher can cross our county line and make $17,066 more in Cherry Creek or $12,873 more in Littleton CDE Average Salaries for Teachers. (https://bit.ly/2gtCNFA)
In the past two years, progress has been made to improve the evaluation system but work remains to be done. As a board member I would support efforts to reward teachers for the hard work it takes to improve teacher instruction. Encouraging teachers to further their own education and become more adept at teaching and more knowledgeable in their subjects ultimately helps our students. Just as we encourage our students to be lifelong learners, we should also value this in our teachers. I would also continue the effort to reduce burdensome documentation requirements to prove one's worth, which created competition between teachers and negatively affected collaboration to improve student learning.[8] |
” |
| —Krista Holtzmann (2017)[11] | ||
If elected, would you support the district asking voters for a tax increase for capital construction and to pay for additional educational programs? Why or why not?
| “ | Yes, Douglas County needs to fix and maintain our buildings. We find ourselves with well over $300 million in unmet capital needs, with $59.1 million to $82.5 million of those unmet needs being so urgent and critical (such as roofing, plumbing, heating and compliance issues) that, if not addressed soon, could impact educational programming and shut down schools until repairs are made. Our community has not passed a bond to support the capital needs of our schools since 2006. It is time. (DCSD Master Capital Plan 2017-2018, Appendix 6, p266)
We also need to bring our salaries up to levels that will allow us to attract and retain the best teachers for our students. In a recent survey, it was shown that the majority of our community supports a mill levy override to better pay our teachers. (DCSD 2017 Corona Insights Community Survey, Report of Top Level Findings, p24) I think the first use for a mill levy override would need to be for increasing teacher salaries so that we are competitive with our neighbors. Only then could the board begin to consider supporting additional educational programs. Funding must be focused on improving academic achievement and access to quality programming in areas where research shows we need to provide more support. For example, many parents have expressed concern that we need greater support in areas of special education and career and technical education.[8] |
” |
| —Krista Holtzmann (2017)[11] | ||
The Douglas County education community for years has been divided by actions taken by the school board. How would you bridge the gaps and ensure all residents are listened to?
| “ | As a board member, I will value hearing from the community at the public board meetings and I will work hard to ensure that executive sessions are not abused as they were under the reform board members prior to 2015. Just as I have been available to meet with the public during my campaign at weekly coffees and many other community events, I will continue to appreciate and welcome the input of others. Reinstating periodic board meetings with the goal of engaging with the community on specific issues of interest would be helpful. I will also push for a community survey to be taken on a regular basis as another way to listen to our community members. Once a board member, I especially look forward to visiting each of our schools and listening to the needs of our building administrators, teachers and students. In the interest of prioritizing student needs and setting budget priorities, I value the research-based recommendations from experts such as those on the Long Range Planning Committee, the Charter Application Review Team, Fiscal Oversight Committee and District and School Accountability Committees. Douglas County deserves strong leadership that will listen to and serve our community, ultimately working toward the common goal of using our community's tax dollars to best serve ALL the students in our public schools.[8] | ” |
| —Krista Holtzmann (2017)[11] | ||
The effectiveness of the Douglas County School District's special education services was recently challenged in a U.S. Supreme Court case. While the court did not rule on the merit of the program, it did find the historic standard of "minimum" improvement is no longer acceptable. What sort of reforms do you believe the district's special education program should consider?
| “ | This is a concern not just in Douglas County but in Colorado, as our state does not provide adequate funding to meet the needs of students with special needs. (APA Report) Douglas County School District should be leading in this area in order to shine a light on the importance of providing equitable funding for students with special needs.
Some of the ways we can improve our special education services are also things that can be done to improve education for every child in Douglas County public schools. We must reduce teacher turnover. Instability is harmful to all students, especially those with special needs. We can do this by continuing to restore a culture where educators feel respected and supported. This includes paying teachers a competitive wage, including their voice in decision-making about curriculum and instruction for students, and promoting partnerships among teachers, parents, and administrators. We must provide teachers time to make these connections with parents and other educators. We must make student-focused decisions about prioritizing the use of our financial resources in other areas such as reducing class sizes and providing excellent professional enrichment opportunities for all staff and teachers specific to working with students with special needs. Ultimately, we must work to provide accessible, quality special education services to help all our students make reasonable progress. It would be helpful for Douglas County to review the practices of other districts where students in special education show more growth than ours. Finally, I would encourage Douglas County to expand and strengthen our efforts to provide support, education and collaboration to parents of students with special needs.[8] |
” |
| —Krista Holtzmann (2017)[11] | ||
How should Douglas County approach its relationships with existing and future charter schools, and should they be funded equally?
| “ | Charter schools are public schools and shouldn’t be singled out separately from our other types of public schools. Douglas County shares 100 percent of its mill levy override dollars with its charter schools and I would not look to change this practice. It’s important to remember that many types of schools make up our public school choices in Douglas County and all deserve to be valued and supported. We need to make sure that all schools are funded equitably, allowing each school to contribute quality educational options for students and all schools sharing in the costs of educating all students. The question for me is not what the label of the school building is, but rather is each school providing a quality education for every student that enters? Our goal must be: All schools working together to meet the needs of ALL students, and all schools accountable financially and in terms of student growth.[8] | ” |
| —Krista Holtzmann (2017)[11] | ||
Parker Chronicle Q&A
Holtzmann participated in the following Q&A conducted by the Parker Chronicle. The questions provided in the Q&A appear bolded, and Holtzmann's responses appear below.
Why did you decide to run?
| “ | When my kids went to college and it was time to move to my next step in life, it just seemed like a natural progression. I have put so much time into getting to know this district that these are the kids I want to advocate for. I’ve advocated for a lot of different kids over the course of my career, but the 67,000 students in Douglas County seem like they need an advocate and I would really like to be that person. Hopefully the community will think that too. Ultimately this is a volunteer position, but for me, it will be full-time employment. I plan for this to be my full-time occupation.[8] | ” |
| —Krista Holtzmann (2017)[12] | ||
What are the most important issues facing the school district?
| “ | We have a budget and capital needs crisis in this district and that has to be addressed. I think we need to make sure we’re meeting the needs of very student. We’re all different and some of us have special needs that others don’t, and it’s our job as a district to make sure we’re meeting the needs of those kids. I think we can do better in that area. And in terms of teachers, I think we can also do better. We need to remember that research has consistently shown that the teachers are the most important school-based factor in student achievement.[8] | ” |
| —Krista Holtzmann (2017)[12] | ||
The board has been divided in recent years. How would you help bridge that divide?
| “ | I think the most important thing we can do is to always focus on how everything we do affects the students in the classroom. If we are all sitting at a table and we are focusing on the same ultimate goal, we’re going to have different ways of getting to that goal, but I just feel like we can do better. We can have a common goal and we can put that first.[8] | ” |
| —Krista Holtzmann (2017)[12] | ||
Would you be supportive of a bond or mill levy to bring more funding to the district?
| “ | I would definitely support both. I have supported all of the others we have tried to get through, so this time will be no different.[8] | ” |
| —Krista Holtzmann (2017)[12] | ||
What else do you want people to know about you?
| “ | I would just want them to know this is what I do. I’m a child advocate. I look at the 67,000 students in the county and I think I can help them.[8] | ” |
| —Krista Holtzmann (2017)[12] | ||
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
|
Candidate Colorado State Board of Education District 4 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Krista Holtzmann for Kids, "Background," accessed October 9, 2017
- ↑ Krista Holtzmann for Kids, "About Krista," accessed October 9, 2017
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 15, 2021
- ↑ Douglas County Elections Office, "Unofficial Results," accessed November 7, 2017
- ↑ Douglas County School District, "2017 School Board Election Candidates," accessed September 5, 2017
- ↑ Colorado Secretary of State, "TRACER: Candidate Search," accessed December 15, 2017
- ↑ Douglas County Parents, "Candidates," accessed October 9, 2017
- ↑ 8.00 8.01 8.02 8.03 8.04 8.05 8.06 8.07 8.08 8.09 8.10 8.11 8.12 8.13 8.14 8.15 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Krista Holtzmann for Kids, “Home,” accessed June 18, 2024
- ↑ Krista Holtzmann for Kids, "Frequently Asked Questions," accessed October 9, 2017
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 11.6 11.7 11.8 Chalkbeat Colorado, "We sent surveys to all the 2017 Douglas County school board candidates. Read their answers here." October 5, 2017
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 Parker Chronicle, "Q&A with Krista Holtzmann," July 18, 2017
 |
State of Colorado Denver (capital) |
|---|---|
| Elections |
What's on my ballot? | Elections in 2025 | How to vote | How to run for office | Ballot measures |
| Government |
Who represents me? | U.S. President | U.S. Congress | Federal courts | State executives | State legislature | State and local courts | Counties | Cities | School districts | Public policy |
