District overview
Funding structure, how it compares to peers, and where major projects stand.
Montrose County School District Re-1J serves about 5,400 students in Montrose County, Colorado. Colorado pays districts by a per-pupil formula and local property taxes cover part of it, with state grants for some buildings. A board of seven directors, each elected from a geographic district, adopts the budget, approves policy and hires the superintendent. After the November 2025 election four new directors joined the board. Since then the board has put the superintendent on leave (June 2026), approved her separation (August 2026) and named Dr. Jessica Kalb interim superintendent (September 2026).
5,851 students in March 2026 and 5,443 in September 2026, per the finance director's reports to the board.
Superintendent Dr. Carrie Stephenson was placed on leave on June 2 and separated on August 24, 2026. Dr. Jessica Kalb is interim superintendent.
Four directors were elected in November 2025. Director Ted Valerio resigned effective Oct 13, 2026 and applications for District B closed Oct 30.
Recent actions include a $6.19M state early childhood grant, a $3.4M property purchase and $937K of deferred maintenance.
The minutes record motions and votes but not the reasons, so they do not explain the investigation or why the board changed legal counsel and superintendent.
The district accepted a $6.19 million state grant for its Early Childhood program. Speakers in June 2026 described a divided community and concerns about the existing preschool building. The site and total cost were not stated in the minutes read.
State BEST grant (accepted Jun 2026)
In April 2026 the board took no action on closing a school and created an advisory committee to recommend by February 27, 2027.
None stated (policy study)
Colorado school board elections are held in odd-numbered Novembers; the next is expected November 2, 2027, for the seats not filled in 2025 (Districts B, D, F). Candidates have not been published.
Official source · verified Nov 7, 2026
Voters elected four directors on November 4, 2025: Neisha Balleck (District A), Scott Scarborough (District C), Tiffany Vincent (District E) and Shane Daly (District G). The board accepted the results and swore them in on December 2, 2025.
Official source · verified Nov 7, 2026
Director Ted Valerio resigned effective October 13, 2026. The board accepted applications until October 30, 2026 and will appoint a replacement. There is no public election for the vacancy.
Official source · verified Nov 7, 2026
Practical guides to school phone policies, district budgets, and administrator hiring.
Explore resources →Built from approved board minutes in the district's public Drive folders (scanned pages read by OCR) and transcripts of board meeting recordings on the district YouTube channel, Nov 2025 to Oct 2026. Agendas are on BoardDocs and were not collected.
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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