District overview
Funding structure, how it compares to peers, and where major projects stand.
Bennett 29J serves the town of Bennett and nearby rural areas on the eastern plains in Adams and Arapahoe counties, plus Sky Ranch Academy, a charter school the board authorized in 2022 in the Sky Ranch neighborhood about 20 miles west. Colorado funds districts mainly through a per-student formula paid by local property taxes and state aid. The district passes about $7.4 million a year to its charter school. A five-member elected board adopts the budget in June and certifies the mill levy each December.
The final 2025-26 budget appropriated $35.5 million in total, including a $23.95 million general fund, $7.37 million for charter schools and a $2.5 million capital reserve fund.
In March 2026 the superintendent said 2026-27 per-pupil funding was projected at about $13,144, up $632, or about $1.1 million more than 2025-26, while most categorical grants (English learners, gifted, special education, career and technical education and transportation) would be folded into the formula.
The county's election notice lists no current bonded debt. Ballot Issue 5A would allow up to $125 million in new bonds, repaid with up to $11 million a year in property taxes.
Five directors elected at large to four-year terms. Regular meetings are the third Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the Bennett High School Library, 610 7th Street, and are streamed on Zoom.
The collected records give budget totals but not a per-student spending figure, so this page does not state one.
Ballot Issue 5A would fund a new high school on the existing campus with career and technical education areas and athletic facilities, convert the current high school into a middle school, and add security, lighting, parking and traffic improvements. The board hired pollsters and engagement consultants in March, approved the master plan, a construction manager/general contractor and pre-construction studies in August, and had a design proposal from Treanor on its October 21 agenda.
General obligation bonds, if approved by voters on November 3, 2026
Under a November 2025 intergovernmental agreement, the Town of Bennett agreed to sell the Joe Stemo Ball Field at 1051 Washington Way to the district for $1,500. Town voters approved the sale (Measure 1B) on April 7, 2026, and the board met in executive session on May 12 on purchase and joint-use terms.
District funds
Bennett School District 29J
Three of five at-large director seats, those of Alyssa Pae, Darvin Harrell and Brennan Westendorf (elected in 2023), are expected to be on the November 2, 2027 coordinated election ballot for four-year terms.
Official source · verified Nov 7, 2026
Adams and Arapahoe counties · $125,000,000
Asks voters to let the district borrow up to $125 million (repayment up to $235 million, up to $11 million a year in new property taxes) to build a new high school on the existing campus, turn the current high school into a middle school, and improve security, parking and traffic flow. The district has no current bonded debt. Result not yet confirmed in sources read.
Official source · verified Nov 7, 2026
Town of Bennett · $1,500
Town voters were asked to let the Town Board of Trustees sell the Joe Stemo Ball Field parcel at 1051 Washington Way to the school district for $1,500, as set out in a November 2025 intergovernmental agreement. The superintendent reported that it passed with 372 votes in favor (unofficial).
Official source · verified Nov 7, 2026
Practical guides to school phone policies, district budgets, and administrator hiring.
Explore resources →Built from the board's posted minutes and agendas (November 2025 to October 2026), the district policy handbook and Adams County's official notice for the November 3, 2026 election.
We read every agenda, packet, recording, and set of minutes, and write up the decisions that affect families — each one linked to the document it came from.
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