2020 Colorado School District Community Needs Inventory

Fall Needs Inventory

As a follow-up to the spring 2020 statewide needs assessment, CDE and the Colorado Education Initiative partnered on a second needs inventory administered from October 14 to October 30 to update Colorado's understanding of current challenges facing schools and districts as they work to sustain and enhance support for students, staff and families during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Colorado Department of Education and Colorado Education Initiative

Needs Inventory Results

Approximately 78% of Colorado districts responded. These districts serve close to 90% of the state's public school students. 80% of responding districts represent rural communities.

Device and connectivity needs have declined quite a bit since spring 2020
Workforce and staffing needs are major concerns for many districts throughout Colorado
While students' mental health continued to be named as a top student priority, slightly more districts identified K-3 reading loss as a top priority this time.
While there are about 10,000 unused childcare spots across some Metro districts, there are several regions where there are many students on the waitlist for childcare offerings.

Needs Inventory Results

News Release

Personnel Gaps

The table below displays the percentage of district respondents reporting that they have sufficient staff in the following roles by region (n=108). Note that districts also flagged the need for more paraprofessionals, mental health professionals, and physical health professionals.

For details about each region, see the Region Map.

Region	Classroom Teachers	Classroom Teachers Able and Willing to Teach In-Person	Special Education Teachers	Substitute Teachers	Janitorial Staff	Food Services Staff	Bus Drivers
Metropolitan Region	75%	58%	58%	0%	50%	73%	30%
North Central Region	69%	88%	63%	6%	63%	88%	19%
Northeast Region	85%	100%	85%	20%	85%	95%	35%
Northwest Region	30%	70%	50%	0%	60%	50%	40%
Pikes Peak Region	75%	81%	63%	6%	75%	81%	38%
Southeast Region	69%	100%	83%	31%	92%	85%	38%
Southwest Region	58%	83%	58%	0%	58%	83%	36%
West Central Region	78%	89%	56%	11%	78%	89%	75%