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Time May Be Running Out for Rico School, RE-2J Superintendent Says

Austin Cope

The future of Rico’s tiny, seven-student school is likely limited. That’s according to Bruce Hankins, Dolores County RE-2J school district superintendent, who spoke to KSJD after the school board met this week to discuss the future of the town’s school-- which serves mainly preschoolers. Hankins said it is becoming more and more difficult for the district to make ends meet.

“We need to provide services for kids up there,” he said, “but I don’t know if we can afford to keep that school open."

 

Hankins says the school’s low enrollment makes it receive very little per-pupil funding from the state, so it operates with a $65,000- $70,000 deficit. Because fewer students and their families are moving to Dolores County, he explained, there will likely not be an increase in enrollment in the near future. The school will probably not close before the end of this school year, but the board will meet again in the early spring to decide whether it can stay open longer.

Austin Cope is a former Morning Edition host for KSJD and now produces work on a freelance basis for the station. He grew up in Cortez and hosted a show on KSJD when he was 10 years old. After graduating from Montezuma-Cortez High School in 2010, he lived in Belgium, Ohio, Spain, northern Wyoming, and Himachal Pradesh, India before returning to the Cortez area. He has a degree in Politics from Oberlin College in Ohio.
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