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Colorado officials plan to seek third-party audits of a controversial public education group that’s now being dissolved as well as the group’s largest homeschool enrichment program.
One audit will focus on Education reEnvisioned Board of Cooperative Educational Services, or ERBOCES, the Monument-based group that had recently spurred massive growth in publicly funded homeschool enrichment, spearheaded a short-lived “public Christian school,” and sued the state for religious discrimination.
The second audit will focus on Colorado Homeschool Enrichment, a collection of homeschool enrichment campuses that have drawn scrutiny for using state funding to subsidize private schools and to provide some homeschoolers with trips to ski resorts, hot springs, and indoor skydiving centers.
The pair of audits reflect concerns by state education officials and some watchdog groups over how ERBOCES and Colorado Homeschool Enrichment used tens of millions of state dollars in recent years. The audit plan is part of an agreement finalized Monday between the Colorado Department of Education and School District 49, which was ERBOCES’ fiscal agent and will help oversee the group’s dissolution.
The two audits will be paid for with money remaining in ERBOCES’ reserves.
Monday’s agreement calls for a “specialized audit” of ERBOCES “to understand the current state of ERBOCES finances and assets.” It indicates the audit may be conducted by the Colorado Springs-based accounting firm Hoelting & Company.
During its 13-year-run, ERBOCES described itself as providing innovative education options to Colorado families. It authorized several online and brick and mortar schools in addition to dozens of homeschool enrichment programs. Critics argued that the co-op pushed the boundaries of — and in some cases broke — state law.
Prior to the August vote by the District 49 school board to dissolve ERBOCES, the group took several controversial steps, including loaning $3 million to a Woodland Park charter school against the wishes of state officials and approving a plan to entice school districts to join by paying them $100,000.
In addition to the ERBOCES audit, Monday’s agreement calls for a “forensic audit and investigation” of funding provided to and used by Colorado Homeschool Enrichment during the 2024-25 and 2025-26 school years as well as “any activity” this year. It does not specify which third-party firm might conduct the audit.
Renee Miller, the CEO of Colorado Homeschool Enrichment, did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday about the planned audit of her group.
Colorado Homeschool Enrichment, which recently announced it would not operate this year, launched four years ago under the auspices of ERBOCES. It grew quickly until it had dozens of campuses and microcampuses across the state, with most offering homeschool students about six hours a week of tuition free classes or activities. Its campuses together used 430 contractors, according to documents submitted to the state over the summer.
One of the biggest criticisms of Colorado Homeschool Enrichment, which last year enrolled nearly 2,800 students, was that it operated with little public transparency despite receiving millions in state education funding.
When Chalkbeat asked the group last spring to provide contact information, enrollment numbers, and state funding by campus, the group declined, saying its lawyer had determined the group was not subject to Colorado’s open records law.
Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.
