Some alternatives to brick-and-mortar public schools will continue operating for the 2026-27 school year, while the future of others remains up in the air.

Following the dissolution of the Education reEnvisioned Board of Cooperative Educational Services (ERBOCES) last week and new state requirements, funding for homeschool programs has yet to be secured.

ERBOCES, which was based in Monument, formed in 2013 to provide partnering districts alternative education programs like charter schools, contract schools, online schools and homeschool enrichment (HSE) programs.

Following legislative changes to how HSEs qualify for state funding, fleeting participation and heightened scrutiny from the state over operations and fund allocations, School District 49 Board of Education voted to dissolve ERBOCES at a special Aug. 17 meeting. At the time of the vote, D-49 was its only member district and state law requires at least two.

ERBOCES served about 13,500 students last year, according to the Colorado Department of Education.

The board resolution also outlines an emergency transfer procedure for ERBOCES’ four online schools, which have already begun their new school years. The State Board of Education subsequently approved the transfer during its Aug. 20 meeting.

D-49 will serve as the authorizer and administrative unit for the Colorado Preparatory Academy, Pikes Peak Online School, Colorado Summit Connections Academy and Williamsburg Learning Leadership Academy of Colorado for the 2026-27 school year. The schools will then use the state’s multidistrict online school application process to seek a permanent authorizer for the 2027-28 school year.

Because these schools are operated by contractors, the transfer will maintain students’ day-to-day experiences, along with their teachers, administrators and student supports.

Over 4,700 students were enrolled in these schools during the 2025-26 school year and had already begun the new school year, according to an Education Department news release.

While these students are now guaranteed continuity for at least the current school year, the same can’t be said for ERBOCES’ homeschooled students.

The resolution approved by D-49’s board specifies that the transfer procedure won’t apply to the HSEs contracted with ERBOCES because of “recent legislative changes and resultant logistical complications.”

“Great programs may pause for the school year. And, while that would be disruptive and very difficult, great programs will find a way back,” D-49 Superintendent Peter Hilts told the board.

“The legislation does not cancel the concept of HSE. It simply changes the rules dramatically and (it’s) very, very difficult to get that legislation in May and to be certified to operate in August.”

These legislative changes include barring homeschool programs from funding activities that exceed public school offerings and limiting their operations predominantly to within the district boundaries in which they reside. Failing to meet this criterion denies programs’ right to state funding.

The changes come after legislators learned of the proliferation of new HSEs in recent years and some using state funding for expenses that would typically be considered private activities or private purchases. Examples given by Education Department auditors included jiujitsu lessons, ski passes, purchasing personal computers, and fees for a lacrosse club membership.

This year also established an approval process for homeschool students operating outside an authorizer’s geographic boundaries for the 2026-27 school year.

During the same meeting, state board members were updated on the application status for existing part-time homeschool enrichment programs.

The state accepted applications from June 15 to Aug. 14 and received 52 from 10 authorizers. These were composed of four school districts, five charter schools and ERBOCES. Of these applications, three were approved and one was partially approved.

Because of ERBOCES’ dissolution, the Education Department denied the applications for its 44 programs but extended the deadline to Sept. 4 to reapply if it identifies new authorizers.

Some HSEs, like Falcon Aerolab and Farm Roots Enrichment in Monument, have already been approved through their local district, Lewis-Palmer District 38. Others, like Peak News Academy, a broadcast and podcast journalism program, were anticipating state funding to operate this year.

The HSE will still operate tuition-free as planned for its first year but will now pivot to different fundraising efforts, said Chaim Goldman, the program’s director. He explained that the development of the new legislation throughout the session, along with the rollout of the new application process, had programs like his “scrambling to figure out what the rules were and comply with them.”

Existing HSEs were forced to shut down, while others were prevented from opening this fall because of the new state conditions, ERBOCES Executive Director Ken Witt said in June.

For established programs like Kilroy’s Workshop Homeschool Enrichment, a blacksmithing and welding program offering classes in Colorado Springs, state instructional requirements forced the program to open on schedule, founder Ron Hardman told the D-49 board moments ahead of its vote.

“So, we did what any good district would do: We opened,” he said. “Without July funding, without August funding and with no promise of funding tomorrow. But waiting would have made it impossible to meet the very requirements that we will be evaluated against.”