Special Education Pupil Count

2025 Count Date: Wednesday, October 1

COMING SUMMER 2026!

Each year all public school districts across the state of Colorado participate in the Student October Count data submission to the Colorado Department of Education (CDE). The purpose of this data collection is to obtain required student-level data as provided for by state statute, including information regarding students’ funding eligibility as outlined in the Public School Finance Act of 1994 (Section 22-54-101, C.R.S.). The Colorado Department of Education collects these data through the Data Pipeline with the Information Management Services (IMS) unit of CDE overseeing the collection.

Pursuant to HB24-1448, and beginning with the 2025-2026 school year, the new Public School Finance Formula will include a new count as part of a district's Total Program funding calculation. This new count will be known as the District Special Education Pupil Enrollment, which will be used to determine the District Special Education funding within the formula. 

More information regarding the audit process for this new count is coming soon.  (Audits for this count are scheduled to begin with the 2026-2027 school year.) 

Some forms recommended by the School Auditing Office may contain personally identifiable information of students and districts should take additional precautions.​ Local education agencies must use secure means when sending Personally Identifiable Information (PII) to CDE.  If transferring PII between districts, schools, or with other parties, CDE strongly recommends that districts use a secure method of transferring PII between districts, schools, or with other parties (for example, a secure file sharing tool like Syncplicity, or including the PII in a password-protected document). For more information, please visit the Data Privacy and Security website or contact CDE’s Data Privacy Office.

Resource Guide

Annual Audit Review Resources