District overview
Funding structure, how it compares to peers, and where major projects stand.
Norwood School District R-2J serves about 170 students in Norwood, Colorado. Colorado pays districts per student through a state formula and local property taxes pay part of that. With so few students, small changes in the count matter: the district was funded for 172 students in 2025-26 and is budgeting 168 for 2026-27. Voters approved a bond in November 2025, and a state Building Excellent Schools Today (BEST) grant pays most of a new school. A five-member elected board adopts the budget and hires the superintendent, Todd Bissell.
October 2025 enrollment was 188 but the district was funded for 172. Budgeting for 2026-27 uses 168; enrollment was 170 in August 2026.
In December 2025 the board certified 26.321 mills, including the new bond. Without about $3.25 million in expected state backfill funding the rate would have been 63.274 mills.
Construction began in 2026 with a planned finish in August 2028. About $5.1 million had been spent by September 2026, including about $700,000 in local money, and pricing was reported under budget.
Five elected board members hold four-year terms. Three terms end in 2027.
The state grant requires the district to follow BEST rules, which limit building size and when money is spent. Board members raised design concerns, but the project was reported on budget.
A new school built on a new site with a state BEST grant. Early design estimates ran $6 to $7 million over budget in March 2026 and were brought back within budget.
2025 voter-approved bond and state BEST grant (00,000 district BEST contribution approved Nov. 2025)
Colorado school board elections are held in odd-numbered Novembers; the next is expected November 2, 2027. The district's board page lists terms ending in 2027 for Nichol Bray, Jackie Hardman and Morgan Rummel. Candidate information has not been published.
Official source · verified Nov 6, 2026
Voters approved a general obligation bond on November 4, 2025 that, with a state BEST grant, is paying for a new Norwood school. The board's November 12, 2025 minutes thank the community and note the bond would pass even if all uncounted ballots were no votes. The bond amount was not stated in the pages read.
Official source · verified Nov 6, 2026
Practical guides to school phone policies, district budgets, and administrator hiring.
Explore resources →Built from agendas and minutes in the district's public Google Drive board folders (November 2025 to October 2026). Several minutes are scanned images and were read by OCR; some were only partly reviewed.
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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