Author: Debbie Kelley, The Gazette

A man of great intellect, inspiring calmness and true statesmanship are among the descriptive phrases colleagues use when talking about Kyle Hybl, who has received a “resolution of appreciation” for his 12 years of service on the University of Colorado’s Board of Regents. Hybl says it’s been his privilege to help guide the four-campus university…

Pueblo City Schools District 60 became one of the latest Colorado school districts to adopt a four-day school week for some of its schools when the academic year started in August. But the shortened schedule is as much of a tradition at schools on the eastern plains of El Paso County as tractors meandering down…

Teachers and other employees in a second El Paso County public school district will be allowed to carry concealed handguns on campus. The five-member Peyton 23-JT Board of Education voted unanimously last week to designate teachers and other volunteer staff as security guards, after being trained to respond in an emergency. “Having armed staff is…

Daily attendance is essential to student success, but being at school Wednesday is especially important. Oct. 3 is this year’s “official count day,” when the state’s 178 public school districts tally enrollment, which determines school funding. The schools have a week’s window to tabulate enrollment on an alternative day, though, ending Oct. 10 for schools…

Landmark Community School, the state’s only sober high school, has been saved, for six weeks at least, while a committee is set up to figure out solutions for a lack of staff, a financial deficit and how to meet a June 30, 2020, deadline for the Colorado Springs school to stand on its own feet.…

Six Colorado school districts and two industry associations are fighting to stop a new law addressing educational obstacles for foster care youths. In a lawsuit filed this week in Denver District Court, the plaintiffs cited a transportation caveat added to the bill in the final days of the spring legislative session. “It’s not about the…

COLORADO SPRINGS – Two Pikes Peak region school districts are starting the academic year with new superintendents: the area’s largest, Colorado Springs School District 11, and the small mountain community of Woodland Park School District RE-2. Board members in each district said their new superintendent’s desire to concentrate on student needs gave them the edge…

Manitou Springs Mayor Ken Jaray has declared a local disaster emergency in the wake of Monday’s hail, heavy rain and flooding, he said in a Facebook post Wednesday night. The status will enable the city and local residents and businesses to be eligible for state and federal disaster relief funding. Preliminary estimates of the cost…