Correction: It was falsely stated in the version of this article published Jan. 15 that Dr. Anna Cole, with approval by the RFSD Board of Education, enacted a new health insurance plan for their teachers and staff. In fact, the decision was made two years ago after a deliberate process. The Health Advisory Committee, made up of staff, administration, Board members and local health professionals, unanimously recommended the change which the Board of Education approved in the spring of 2023. The plan was enacted under the leadership of former Superintendent Dr. Jesús Rodríguez.
In the year following the departure of former Roaring Fork School District (RFSD) Superintendent Dr. Jesús Rodríguez, shadows of the controversies that surrounded his appointment, compensation and eventual departure still linger.
The decision to move to self insurance two years ago was a deliberate process guided by a district Health Advisory Committee made up of staff, administration, Board of Education members and local health professionals. The exploratory process lasted over a year, RFSD Superintendent Dr. Anna Cole explained, and spanned the tenure of Superintendents Dr. Rob Stein and Dr. Jesús Rodríguez. The Health Advisory Committee unanimously decided to recommend a change to self-insurance which the Board of Education approved in the spring of 2023. The plan launched July 1, 2023 under Superintendent Dr. Rodríguez’s leadership.
A current RFSD employee who came forward on the condition of anonymity alleged that this new plan was so under-researched that projections for costs were wildly underestimated, and the district now finds itself suffering a major budgetary loss as a result. Dr. Cole, in a video shared with RFSD employees via district communication channels on Nov. 15, stated: “We underestimated the true cost [of the new insurance plan] and … we [RFSD] underestimated the expertise required to effectively manage and monitor the plan.”
In realizing the mistake too late, Dr. Cole and district administration made the decision midway through an academic year to revert back to the original plan due to the skyrocketing costs.
According to Dr. Cole, “We engaged staff, the Roaring Fork Community Education Association, and administrators in a decision-making process this fall that led to the final recommendation to the board to pivot back to a managed care plan.”
This left teachers and other school district employees having to re-enroll in new healthcare coverage in the new year. Along with the video made by Dr. Cole, this was confirmed in an accompanying letter to RFSD employees, also dated Nov. 15.
Per a school district Board of Education finance update on Dec. 11, in a regular Board of Education meeting, RFSD projects an estimated loss of at least $5.7 million from the insurance mistake on top of an estimated budget shortfall in the 2025/2026 school year of an additional $5.8 million.
This is attributed to declining student enrollment and rising insurance costs (even with a new plan), as well as the school district’s finance department having “forgotten” (a direct quote from Dr. Cole) to include several line items in preparing the 2024/25 budget. These forgotten items amount to $1.5 million and include the discretionary budget of Glenwood Springs High School, recurring budgetary costs for special education, transportation, contract employees and custodial staff.
In the leaked video, Dr. Cole relayed three strategies to mitigate the loss: the district has asked the board to allocate $1.5 million in budgetary surplus from their Meadowood housing project (affordable housing for teachers) to cover a portion of the costs; the district has proposed to use $2.5 million of its budgetary reserves to cover part of the losses; and finally the school board is considering the sale of district-held assets (real estate) to cover yet another portion of the costs.
Dr. Cole stated in the video that staff job security is a top priority for the district, but later said that “impact to staffing is highly likely” in 2025/26 due to staff salaries being approximately 85% of the district’s budget, with the losses from the health insurance mistake and the forgotten budgetary items accounting for 6-8% of the school district’s total $96 million (2024/25) budget.
How did this come to pass?
The whistleblower stated that “no one wants to talk about how rushed this [insurance decision] was” and also that they stepped forward specifically to highlight the financial mismanagement that has led to the district being in a position where layoffs and stagnant wages are a real concern. According to the whistleblower, Angie Davlyn, former RFSD HR director under Dr. Rodríguez, had begun a process to research new health insurance plans for the district but was fired before the process could begin around the time that questions about Dr. Rodríguez’ failure to complete superintendent licensure were beginning to surface.
Following the HR shakeup, RFSD leadership saw that an insurance plan had been under review and opted to adopt this plan. Dr. Cole substantiated these reports in the video by sharing three reasons for these mistakes on the part of the district. First, staff turnover in the district office in the past few years led to a “loss of institutional knowledge.” Second, the “cadence and tempo” of the previous administration’s budget processes caused delays in the budgetary projections, which led to the present administration being rushed to make decisions in limited time. Third, Dr. Cole cited “systems errors” for the additional missing budget items.
As it stands, RFSD has a deficit of nearly $6 million in both the 2024/2025 and 2025/2026 school years. This accounts for between 6% and 8% of their total operating budget each year.
In the wake of these mistakes, they are faced with draining reserve funds and surplus teacher housing funds to cover these costs before turning toward potential budget cuts.
In a column penned to the community by Dr. Cole, published by the Glenwood Springs Post Independent in December, she stated, “Over the coming months, the district will share updates and provide details about the choices that will need to be made. There will be opportunities for students, families, and the community to share their concerns so that we can understand what matters most to them while addressing the budget shortfall.”