Online schools with statewide reach are growing in Colorado. School districts want their students back.

“Sign up for Chalkbeat Colorado’s free daily newsletter to get the latest reporting from us, plus curated news from other Colorado outlets, delivered to your inbox. Kurt Clay, assistant superintendent in the Delta County school district, was alarmed last year to learn that 138 students had left his western Colorado district for public online schools. With them went $1.6 million in state education dollars. “That’s just funding that goes somewhere else,” Clay said. “It’s not staying here local.“ It wasn’t just about the money though. Clay and other district leaders believed they could offer something better: The flexible online classes students wanted with the added benefit of keeping them connected to district staff, school clubs, and special events like prom. That’s how the district’s online program — Empower Online — came to be last fall. Delta County is among the dozens of Colorado districts that have recently started their own online programs or plan to soon, competing for students at a time when enrollment is declining statewide. Such school districts, which are contending with budget cuts and even school closures, are particularly wary of multi-district online schools, which they say draw students and state funding to districts hundreds of miles away. Colorado has 44 multi-district online schools serving more than 30,000 students statewide. About half the schools get 90% or more of their students from outside their authorizing district, according to data from the Colorado Department of Education. Just a few entities authorize many of the schools. More multi-district online schools could be on the way. While the State Board of Education unanimously rejected one in March, it will consider three more proposals on Thursday. This group helps districts with online programs Over the past year, a state-supported nonprofit called Colorado Digital Learning Solutions has helped many districts launch or plan new online programs. The group is not an online school. Rather, it provides asynchronous online classes taught by Colorado-licensed teachers to school districts and charter schools. Some of its teachers still teach in-person classes, and others are retired from Colorado classrooms. The Weld RE-5J district in northern Colorado has used Colorado Digital Learning Solutions courses for years in its online program. Emma, a junior in the district, is taking algebra, English, and world history online through the group, plus four in-person classes at her high school in Johnstown. Emma, who hopes to graduate a semester early, said she found all in-person classes a struggle because she has ADHD. “I just have a really hard time focusing in class and being my whole present self,” she said. “I chose hybrid because it still gives me a social aspect, but it also gives me that flexible aspect.” Colorado Digital Learning Solutions was selected to provide online classes to Colorado schools after the passage of a 2016 state law that required increased investment in supplemental online courses. The law sought to ensure digital equity by providing assistance to school districts and charter schools that didn’t have the capacity to build their own online offerings. Emma, a junior at Roosevelt High School in Johnstown in northern Colorado, joined her district's online program last fall. Colorado Digital Learning Solutions receives about 20% of its budget from the state. Generally, school districts pay the group $250 per student per semester-long class. About half of Colorado’s 180 school districts use the nonprofit to offer online classes — sometimes a full menu and sometimes a single course. For example, the small Lamar district on the Eastern Plains contracts with the group to provide a Latin class, taught by a Boulder teacher, to one student. As more school districts seek to win students back from multi-district online schools — or prevent students from leaving in the first place — things have become contentious at times. Some multi-district online schools are pushing back against Colorado Digital Learning Solutions. In a February letter on behalf of some multi-district online schools, attorney Brad Miller accused the group of causing “reputational harm” to the schools. He said the group’s promotional materials highlight the online schools’ low graduation rates without noting that their students tend to be highly mobile and behind academically. Dan Morris, co-executive director of Colorado Digital Learning Solutions, said his group was reporting publicly available data. Miller, who’s been involved in several high-profile lawsuits on behalf of conservative-leaning school districts, did not respond to requests for comment or to clarify which online schools he represents. The online program pitch Seventeen Colorado districts, most of them small and rural, started online programs in 2025. Colorado Digital Learning Solutions is working with 25-30 additional districts that want to start online programs next school year, Morris said. Unlike multi-district online schools, online programs must have fewer than 100 full-time online students and no more than 10 from outside the district. A key part of Morris’ pitch to districts is data. It’s in the presentation he’s given at state conferences: “Stop the Enrollment Drain: Build a Local Online Program that keeps students in-district.” He also shares detailed spreadsheets his team has compiled showing how many students school districts are losing to multi-district online schools. That’s what convinced officials in the Durango district in southwestern Colorado to start an online program next year. They learned they’d lost more than 400 students — and about $5 million in state funding — to multi-district online schools. Robert Aspen, Durango High School’s intervention coordinator, said they’ll start with up to 50 students, with plans to grow long term. The goal is to attract students who enrolled in multi-district online schools back to their home school. While there are 44 multi-district onlines in Colorado, state data shows that most students are leaving their local districts for a few big names, authorized by just a few entities and often run by for-profit companies located out of state. Byers Superintendent Tom Turrell, whose district authorizes eight multi-district online charter schools, said it’s no surprise that more districts are starting online options. “We don’t view district on-line programs as competition,” he said by email. “Like Byers, other districts are innovating to better serve students and that’s great, that’s their job.” Online learning is popular, not all options created equal Educators say families seek online options for many reasons, including because students suffer from anxiety, have medical challenges, have experienced bullying, or have jobs or household responsibilities that conflict with a traditional school schedule. Competitive athletes also like the flexibility of online courses. “I have a rodeo girl,” said Delaine Hudson, a former principal who runs the new online program in Delta County. “She spends her morning doing school work and then she’s either practicing or … she’s somewhere in the state doing rodeo.” Forty students, mostly high schoolers, are enrolled in Delta County’s online program this semester, taking courses through Colorado Digital Learning Solutions with other students around the state. They take core classes, like English and science, and less common offerings like “History of the Holocaust.” Hudson likes that there’s a real teacher available to message when students hit roadblocks. She checks in with students weekly, too, by phone, email, or text. Most students are thrilled with the online program so far, she said. “And it’s rigorous. I don’t feel like we’re just pushing them through.” Critics of some multi-district online schools question their quality . At 20 of the schools, so few students take state tests that state officials can’t calculate ratings, leaving the public in the dark about how they’re doing. In addition, some of the biggest multi-district online schools routinely post low graduation rates. For example, the 2,600-student Astravo Academy Online High School, which is authorized by the Byers district, has a four-year graduation rate of 44%. At District 49’s GOAL High School, it’s 49%. The state average is about 86%, according to state data. Supporters say the some multi-district online schools are helping at-risk students who’ve faced educational and personal challenges. “We’ve taken on all of the kids who needed second and third and fourth and fifth chances in GOAL from the entire state,” said District 49 school board member Marie LaVere-Wright at a board meeting last June. While GOAL is classified by the state as an “alternative education campus” — schools designed to serve high-risk students — more than 90 other Colorado schools, including many bricks and mortar schools, have the same designation. District 49 officials declined to comment for this story. Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org

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