08/07/2026
💚A Letter to the Woodland Park Community
Over the past several months, many members of our community have followed the public discussions between Woodland Park School District and Merit Academy. We know there are questions about how we arrived at this point, what the District has done to address the concerns that have been raised, and what happens next.
Because these discussions involve public schools, taxpayer dollars, and the education of children in our community, we believe it is important to share a factual update.
From the beginning, the District's goals have remained the same:
▪️Provide excellent educational opportunities for every public school student.
▪️Be responsible stewards of taxpayer resources.
▪️Work collaboratively with Merit Academy whenever possible to find solutions.
🔳 Why the District Changed the Funding Schedule
Like many school districts across Colorado, Woodland Park School District has experienced significant financial challenges over the past several years. Declining reserves and increasing operational costs have required the District to carefully evaluate every financial decision.
As part of that effort, the District determined it could no longer continue advancing months of funding before those revenues had actually been received from the State.
This was not a reduction in funding to Merit Academy. It was a change in the timing of payments to better align with when the District receives state revenue while continuing to meet its own financial obligations.
The District communicated that change to Merit Academy months before the start of the 2026–2027 school year.
🔳 What Has Happened Since Then
March 11
The District's Chief Financial Officer and Merit Academy's Chief Financial Officer held their regularly scheduled monthly meeting.
During that meeting, the District informed Merit Academy that funding for the upcoming school year would be distributed as revenues were received rather than through equal monthly advances.
During that discussion, Merit Academy's CFO acknowledged that the Charter Contract requires twelve monthly payments but does not state that those payments must be equal.
The District also began requesting Merit Academy's projected cash-flow needs so both organizations could better understand whether a funding gap existed and explore possible solutions.
March 12
WPSD Superintendent finalists were interviewed. An invitation to the Merit Academy Board was extended to participate. No response was received and no board member signed up for the interview.
April 1
The District invited Merit Academy to the work session with the Colorado Association of School Charter Authorizers (CACSA) regarding charter partnerships and best practices.
May 28
The Merit Academy Board was invited to attend a Woodland Park School District Board of Education work session where community members presented ideas for sustainable funding that could benefit public education throughout Woodland Park.
The invitation specifically recognized Merit Academy's ability to participate in any future efforts should those ideas move forward.
June
District staff continued discussions with Merit Academy regarding transportation, facilities, purchased services, and other operational matters.
June 7
The District initiated Board-to-Board 2x2 meetings to improve communication and create an opportunity for productive dialogue.
July 9
District Board members attended Merit's board meeting and expressed the desire to move forward in a collaborative way during public comment. Merit BOE voted to pursue legal action against the District.
July 11
District and Merit Academy representatives met again to discuss cash flow, ETRAN, funding models, and potential solutions.
Following that meeting, the District completed every action item requested, including:
▪️Sharing District cash-flow models.
▪️Providing prior-year funding examples.
▪️Sharing the March CFO meeting transcript.
▪️Seeking clarification from the Colorado Department of Education and the ETRAN administrator.
▪️Coordinating a proposed joint meeting regarding ETRAN.
▪️Updating the District's partnership webpage based on Merit Academy's requested revisions.
▪️Proposing that, if a funding gap remained after reviewing current financial information, both organizations jointly approach the State to identify a solution.
July 23
The District invited Merit Academy to participate in the proposed ETRAN discussion.
Merit Academy declined.
July 27
WPSD signed a contract with CACSA to provide a dedicated Charter School Authorizer Liaison. Hiring a third party to work with Merit Academy would allow the Superintendent to focus on the district run schools and would add expertise in charter school authorizer responsibilities benefiting both the District and Merit Academy.
July 30
Merit Academy voted to pursue formal action before the Colorado State Board of Education.
While we respect Merit Academy's right to pursue the remedies available under Colorado law, we are disappointed that we were unable to fully explore collaborative solutions before moving into a formal dispute process. Every dollar and every hour spent resolving disagreements is a dollar and an hour that cannot be invested directly in serving students.
🔳 A Few Questions We've Heard
Is the District trying to close Merit Academy?
No.
Merit Academy is a public charter school authorized by Woodland Park School District, and we remain committed to fulfilling our responsibilities under the Charter Contract while supporting the students and families who have chosen Merit Academy.
The Charter Contract gives Merit Academy options should it ever decide another authorizer is a better fit for its future. Under Section 11.5, Merit Academy may terminate the Charter Contract before the end of its term. Under Section 11.8, Merit Academy may seek authorization from another charter authorizer in accordance with Colorado law.
Those decisions belong to Merit Academy.
Our responsibility is different. Our responsibility is to serve as authorizer, honor our contractual obligations, and ensure the financial stability of Woodland Park School District for every student we serve.
🔳Looking Ahead
The Woodland Park School District Board of Education remains committed to finding solutions.
Our Board will consider an official request related to the District's participation in the State's ETRAN program on August 12. One reason we requested additional financial information from Merit Academy was to better understand its current needs before making that decision.
We remain hopeful that future conversations can focus less on disagreement and more on the shared goal that brought both organizations together in the first place: providing outstanding educational opportunities for children in Woodland Park.
The door to collaboration remains open.
-Keegan Barkley
View the letter on our website: https://www.wpsdk12.org/o/wpsd/page/board-of-education-community-letters
