The future of the Rico elementary school is more stable now that a mill levy increase was passed in November.<\/p>\n
The small school is part of the RE-2J Dolores County School district, based in Dove Creek.<\/p>\n
To offset state budget cuts, the district asked voters to approve a 3-mill increase, and it passed by a 448-340 vote. It will generate $300,000 a year, and sunset in seven years.<\/p>\n
Securing the funding was critical, said Superintendent Bruce Hankins, to prevent district-wide cutbacks, including possibly at the Rico campus.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow we don\u2019t have to have that discussion,\u201d Hankins said. \u201cApproving the mill levy definitely makes the Rico school more viable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Three teachers at the modest Rico school instruct 16 students in grades preschool through sixth grade.<\/p>\n
The Rico curriculum is \u201cproject based\u201d \u2013 a way of teaching core standards using more hands-on learning techniques, educational field trips, and community participation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe philosophy is that the more you experience something, the better you understand it,\u201d Hankins said. \u201cIt is a different way of meeting standards that is more engaging and takes advantage of Rico\u2019s surroundings.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Rico school\u2019s student population must be large enough to make the operation viable, he said. Each student brings in $11,000 in funding.<\/p>\n
Rico, population 262, is in Dolores County and pays taxes to the school district. But they are geographically (and politically) isolated from the county seat of Dove Creek, population 721.<\/p>\n
On a county ballot, the interests of Rico residents can be at a disadvantage at the ballot box. But not this time.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s encouraging to see that both Rico and Dove Creek voters showed their support for education by voting to approve the mill levy,\u201d Hankins said.<\/p>\n
There are an estimated 40 to 50 school-age children in Rico. A challenge for the school is that many children commute to Telluride schools because their parents work in the ski town.<\/p>\n
The Telluride Ski resort recently bought the Rico Hotel for employee housing, said ski-area spokesperson Shannon Gibbs.<\/p>\n
School officials hope some of the employees will bring families with school-age children to enroll in the Rico school.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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