The Estes Park School Board approved an agenda item Monday evening during its May board meeting to appoint a designated election official and participate in a coordinated election for directors on the EPSD school board on November 4, 2025.
Three seats will be up for election. Stacy Ferree, Ava Kendall, and John Davis won seats in the November 2021 election. No announcements have been made about whether these board members will seek reelection.
In 2023, Brenda Wyss and Brad Shochat were elected to the school board.
Members of the school board serve a four-year term.
In other business, Superintendent Ruby Bode informed the board that, due to the attrition of some staff members, the District has additional funds available to provide across-the-board raises for staff. Certified staff will now have a base salary of $50,000, which represents a 4% increase.
Administrators will see a $1,000 base increase in salary, approximately a 1% increase, “in addition to the steps and column increases,” said Bode. Staff salaries take into consideration a staff member’s professional learning, continuing education, and advanced degrees.
“We are really excited to be able to do that for all of the employees in our school district, and we want to continue to do that in the future,” said Bode.
After Monday’s meeting, Bode replied to an email from the Estes Valley Voice regarding a rumor circulating in the community that the District was considering closing the middle school building for the upcoming school year as a cost savings measure due to a decline in enrollment over the past few years and an anticipated further decline this fall.
Bode responded by sharing information that had been provided to parents in a recent newsletter:
“Clarifying Building Restructuring Questions: We’ve received several questions recently about the possibility of restructuring or combining school buildings—particularly the middle and high school. To clarify: there will be no restructuring of any buildings for the 2025–2026 school year.
While a few staff members will continue to serve both middle and high school students—teaching across buildings—this is not new. Students will also continue to travel between buildings for specific classes such as choir, culinary arts, robotics, and band, as they do currently.
As we look ahead to potential renovations or updates to our facilities in future years, we will communicate any changes well in advance. Please be assured that no major changes are planned for the 2025–2026 school year.”