Ann Schimke

Ann Schimke

Senior Reporter, Chalkbeat Colorado

Ann Schimke covers early childhood issues for Chalkbeat Colorado. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and the Denver Post. She holds a master’s degree in education policy from the University of Michigan. She joined Chalkbeat (then EdNews Colorado) in 2012. Email: aschimke@chalkbeat.org

“We have also been working since July to get the zoning corrected and are optimistic that will happen soon,” said the school’s executive director.

Officials from the Denver area school that employed the teacher said she was authorized to work in the United States.

The school’s Christian affiliation was omitted or downplayed in documents submitted to the state, a BOCES, and a Pueblo area school district.

Colorado’s first early childhood special district could be created if voters in Garfield and Pitkin, and part of Eagle County say yes.

It’s unclear how much the lawsuit has cost the district and how much fundraising appeals by the district and other groups have raised.

Less than a quarter of Westminster’s elementary and middle school students are reading and writing at grade level, according to 2025 state literacy test results.

One of the Catholic preschools at the center of the case closed last year.

“I don’t think we should be spending taxpayer resources to bring that into our district,” said a District 49 school board member.