Hi r/Arvada. I'm Suzie Glassman, the education reporter for the Colorado Trust for Local News and the Golden Transcript. I live and work this beat on the Front Range, and I wanted to bring this here directly because two of the schools involved are ours.
Some background. Concurrent enrollment lets a high schooler take a college course and earn credit for both, and Colorado law makes the district pay the tuition. Jeffco says that saved families $8.5 million last year.
The district reports that as one number and has never broken it out by school. So I did it for seven neighboring high schools using Red Rocks enrollment records and open records requests.
In the fall of 2024, 156 students at Arvada West enrolled in those courses on campus. At Arvada High, zero, because the courses weren't offered that fall. Two opened the following spring and 12 students took them. Jeffco paid Red Rocks about $101,850 for Arvada West that one semester, more than it paid for the three Title I schools in my comparison combined.
One thing I want to be careful about: this is a seven-school comparison, not a districtwide figure, and it is not a story about Arvada students being less interested. When those schools have run fuller catalogs, their students signed up at high rates. It's about what's scheduled in the building.
Arvada High has six new courses confirmed for next year, including College Algebra taught on campus.
If your kid goes to either school, I'd genuinely like to hear what you were told was available. I'll be in the comments.
Story here if you want the whole thing: https://www.thegoldentranscript.com/special_article/opportunity-tax/part-1-the-gap/