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board of directors unanimously approved both schools.

Joe Salazar, an attorney for Adams 14, said the district had asked CSI to hold o on their vote because of pending litigation. e district has sued the state for removing their exclusive chartering authority and requested that the judge issue a stay on the order. Salazar said the judge has not issued a ruling.

“If they issue a stay, then what CSI did today is void,” Salazar said.

e Adams 14 school board initially approved University Prep, a charter network that already operates schools in Denver, but then contract negotiations broke down. e charter network successfully appealed to the State Board of Education —twice —but the district still said it could not reach an agreement to open the school.

Leaders of University Prep said they school-wide emergencies.

Schools apply each year for Convergint’s STEP Up for Schools program, which may include free interior and exterior security system installations, upgrades and assessments. To date, 71 schools across the country have received security donations from the initiative. Convergint has provided the service for several other schools across Colorado, including the Park County School District, Clear Creek School District and Bennett School

DOMINGUEZ Leonard Dominguez

August 28, 1958 - June 9, 2023

Leonard Dominguez 64, passed away peacefully June 9th. Leonard was born to Manuel Pacheco Dominguez and Mary Reynaga on August 28th 1958. Leonard grew up in Fort Lupton, attended Fort Lupton high school and went on to learn several di erent trades.

In 1999 he married Grace Adams in New Zealand. Leonard enjoyed spending time reading the Bible and volunteering at several ministries with Mark Roggerman. Leonard

KILDAL also enjoyed time he spent in New Zealand with Grace, Esther and her family. Leonard is survived by one daughter Esther (22) and grandson Israel (4) and one on the way, his brother Robert (Sharon) Dominguez and many nephews and nieces. Leonard is preceded in death by his wife Grace, mom and dad Mary and Manuel Dominguez, and brothers Manuel Dominguez, Jimmy Dominguez, John Dominguez and sister Rosalie Roggerman. Services will be determined at a later date.

Phyllis Lee (Thyfault) Kildal

February 1, 1957 - January 29, 2023 e family asks that all owers and notes be sent to Amy Frazier-Gibson at 219 Poplar Street, Lochbuie, CO 80603. worked with parents in the community, some of whom already drive their kids out of the district to attend the network’s Denver schools. Together they designed a school that is to include a preschool and programming in Spanish. e school now has plans to open in fall 2024 serving students in pre-kindergarten and kindergarten, expanding over time to enroll students up to fth grade.

Phyllis Lee ( yfault) Kildal, age 65, passed away on January 29,2023, at her home in Mesa, Arizona, after a 14-year struggle with ovarian cancer.

A mass will be held at St. Augustine Church, 178 South 6th Avenue, Brighton, CO on Friday June 30th at 11:00 a.m., rosary at 10:30 a.m.

A Celebration of Phyllis’s life will be held at the Elks Lodge, 101 North Main Street, Brighton, CO on Friday June 30th at 1:30 p.m.

Adams 14 leaders cited uncertainty about whether the school would o er preschool in the rst year as the issue that began the breakdown in negotiations. At that time, the network still hoped to open in fall 2023.

Be the Change leaders also say they had a lot of community engagement in designing their high school under a community school model with a biliteracy approach. e district denied their application after criticizingthe plans as not rigorous enough.

District.

At Ward S. Kemp elementary school, Convergint employees installed a new security system that helps prevent unwanted visitors from entering and upgraded re safety equipment. ey company also did some sprucing up with paint on June 9.

Ward Principal Robert JurhsSavage said the work done by Convergint was welcome news. He’s looking forward to learning about the new security system.

On an appeal, State Board members sided with the district. at didn’t stop Be the Change founders from trying again, though.

Now, Be the Change expects to open in the fall of 2024 with students in grade 9, eventually serving students through grade 12.

“We are absolutely honored by the approval and thrilled for our Commerce City community to have an additional high school option in order for families to make the best decision for their children,” said Amanda Gonzales, Be e Change co-founder, in a written statement.

Chalkbeat is a nonpro t news site covering educational change in public schools.

“I’d love to come in and check out how it works,” Jurhs-Savage said. Fisher said the company typically selects schools from less populated, more rural districts. But a lack of funding also plays a factor in the company’s selection process.

“We’re looking for school districts that might not have the funding, the capital or the expertise to be able to do what we do,” Fisher said. “We just wanted to shorten the process for the people that don’t even have those resources.”

Howell

Shawn Renne (Hagens) Howell

May 24, 1969 - May 16, 2023

Shawn was born in Denver, Colorado to Clearance & Mine Havens . She married Her best Friend ,David Howell III.

She worked in Denver , CO working as Vice President Of Operations at

Westerra Credit Union. She Loved spending days with her son & puppy buddy Shawn is survived by her son, David Howell. She is preceded in death by b her sister, Donna Atkinson.

September 3, 1934 - June 5, 2023

Helen “Gayle” Ehler was born on September 3, 1934, to Homer & Chessie Callaway as the youngest of three children, after Charles & Carolyn. She grew up in Marlow, OK, graduated from Marlow High School, then attended the Oklahoma College for Women for one year. She transferred to Oklahoma University, where she joined the Delta Gamma Sorority & graduated with a BA in Education in 1957. Her rst teaching position was at Brighton High School in Brighton, CO, where she met John Ehler, a local wheat farmer & cattle rancher. ey married on July 5, 1958. Gayle continued to teach, while John farmed, until the birth of their son Alan, & later daughter Deborah. In that season, she provided bookkeeping for Ehler Farms, served on the Brighton School Board, sang in the choir, taught classes, & served as a deacon at First United Presbyterian Church. e couple also discovered their passion for world traveling & saw many places during their 63 years of marriage. Gayle returned to teaching junior high English in the late 1970’s, then students in the Adams County juvenile delinquency system for a decade. John & Gayle sold the farm in 1999, and moved to Wenatchee, WA, to be closer to their children & grandchildren. Beginning in 2003, the couple wintered in Palm Desert, CA, but in 2018, the couple moved to Lake Las Vegas, NV. She passed into the arms of her Savior Jesus Christ on Sunday, June 4, 2023, while still in their home with the Love of her Life. Gayle always freely share her Faith, wit & beautiful smile. She is survived by her husband, John Ehler; children: Alan Ehler & Deborah Strahm; beloved children-in-law: Keira Ehler & Todd Strahm; grandchildren: Hannah & Stephen Ehler, Luke & Jake Strahm. A Graveside Service will be held on July 5, 2023, at 10:00 a.m., Elmwood Cemetery in Brighton, CO. RSVP Reception Following - share memories - deborahstrahm@yahoo.com. refund checks based on which of six income tiers they fall into. e improved economic outlook would mean larger refunds for people in every tier, though people in the top tier would bene t most. e refund amounts are determined by how much money the state government collects above the TABOR cap on government growth and spending. e cap is calculated by annual growth in population and in ation. e governor’s O ce of State Planning and Budgeting now expects the TABOR cap to be exceeded in the current scal year by $3.527 billion — an increase of about $870 million over what they projected in March.

People in the lowest tier, who make up to $50,000 a year, were expected to receive refund checks of $454 for single lers or $908 for joint lers. For those in the highest tier, who make $279,001 or more, the checks were expected to be $1,434 for single lers and $2,688 for joint lers.

People in the lowest tier would now receive refund checks of $587 for single lers or $1,174 for joint lers. For those in the highest tier, the checks would now be $1,854 for single lers and $3,708 for joint lers.

Colorado taxpayers will get their refund checks next year after they le their taxes.

Nonpartisan Legislative Council Sta now expects the TABOR cap to be exceeded in the current 202223 scal year, which ends June 30, by $3.31 billion — an increase of roughly $600 million over what they projected in March.

Greg Sobetski, the chief economist for Legislative Council Sta , called the increases a “signi cant upward revision.” e updates were presented to the legislature’s Joint Budget Committee, which received its quarterly economic and tax revenue forecasts from LCS and OSPB. While the end of the scal year is fast approaching, it will be months before the state knows exactly how much money it collected over the TABOR cap.

Both LCS and OSPB said betterthan-expected corporate income tax revenue was a large driver of the improvements.

Legislative Council Sta and the governor’s O ce of State Planning and Budgeting forecasts state government to collect tax revenue in excess of the TABOR cap through at least the 2024-25 scal year, which ends June 30, 2025.

Emily Dohrman, an economist with Legislative Council Sta , said the risk of recession has also decreased.

“ e economy is still showing positive growth, but slower growth than what we saw through most of 2022,” she told the JBC. “Our forecast is anticipating that growth will continue to slow through the end of 2023 but then return to a more moderate pace of growth in 2024 and 2025.”

She said there’s still a risk of an economic downturn, but that risk is lower than it was in March.

Polis touted the forecasts presented to the JBC. He said Colorado’s economy remains strong and that it’s evidence the state “continues to be the best place to live, work and do business.” e next quarterly tax revenue and economic forecasts will be presented to the JBC in September. e panel in November will begin drafting the state’s 2024-25 scal year budget, which takes e ect on July 1, 2024. e full legislature will vote on the spending plan after it reconvenes in January. is story via e Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned news outlet based in Denver that covers the state. For more, visit www.ColoradoSun.com. e Sun is a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy, which owns Colorado Community Media.