During the pandemic, the Monarch High School library sat unused. Books sat dusty and uncatalogued and, perhaps more importantly, went out of date. Things got worse when the Marshall Fire struck—the Monarch community was disproportionally affected, and many books that students checked out were lost in the fire. As schools resumed in-person learning, Katherine Croasdale set to work fixing the library.

Boulder High School graduate Adriana Aguirre, a recipient of the Earl & Barbara Bolton scholarship, represents the future of nursing with her big dreams of diversifying the industry and providing culturally competent care to her patients.

As homeowners in our community see their property values and tax bills increase, many may assume the additional funds are flowing into our public schools. They’re not wrong – but increases in local property taxes don’t equate to increases in funding for the Boulder Valley School District. The reality of how school funding works is more complex.