Opinion: Colorado’s plan to cut sexual health education funding would erase real gains for rural students

I served the Center Consolidated School District as a school counselor and grant coordinator for 26 years, supporting students, families and teachers in a community that has long faced significant barriers to health and educational equity. Long before statewide support existed, our district committed to providing comprehensive, inclusive and medically accurate sexual health education because teachers here understand what our students face.

With 92% of our students identifying as Latinx, 2% as Native, 1% as Black, and 94% qualifying for free and reduced-price lunch, Center serves a population who has historically been underserved and faces higher risks for health disparities. For years, our ability to teach comprehensive health education depended on inconsistent funding, which prevented students from receiving the supported programs they needed.

That changed in 2022 when Center received funding through the Comprehensive Human Sexuality Education, or CHSE, grant program. This critical funding allowed Center to implement a comprehensive curriculum supported by thoughtful planning, strong communication with families and well-prepared teachers. Through this grant, community support and the subject-matter expertise and partnership with Trailhead Institute’s Youth Sexual Health Program, we were able to provide high-quality training and coaching for staff to build the confidence and skills they need to guide students through complex topics with care and accuracy, including how to answer tough questions using trusted research on adolescent development, understanding Colorado’s laws and policies, and how to engage families in sexual health education.

We held parent information nights and ensured families received ongoing communication during instruction, helping them understand what their children were learning and offering ways to extend conversations at home. Students participated in lessons that encouraged them to reflect on values, set boundaries, understand consent and explore how racism, discrimination and harmful language influence health and safety.

In our first year of CHSE funding, we received $25,000, which made it possible for us to support teachers with training and reach 253 students with comprehensive, high-quality CHSE instruction. That funding grew to $120,000 in 2023 — allowing us to more than triple our impact and reach over 930 students just one year later. 

The results of CHSE funding are unmistakable, yet the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has proposed eliminating the program as part of the state budget process, removing $1 million in funding that rural communities like ours rely on. The elimination of this program would erase years of progress in Colorado’s commitment to support the mental health and well-being of young people, including LGBTQ+ youth and youth of color.

Since implementing our curriculum, our students have improved their skills, beliefs and knowledge. Last school year, seventh-graders increased their understanding of critical content aligned to the Colorado Comprehensive Health Standards by 22%, eighth-graders by 13%, and high school students by 31%. 

Center’s graduation rate has risen steadily from roughly 70% in 2018 to over 80% by 2024. Over that same period, our dropout rate fell from about 7% to just above zero. These trends reflect a community where students feel supported, informed and connected, and where education is reinforced by consistent, comprehensive health instruction.

We also see more students continuing their education. In 2019, only 40.6% of our graduates continued their education or training after high school. By 2020, that number rose to 57.1%, and reached 62.9% by 2024.  

Even during the pandemic, more students continued their education, reflecting growing confidence, stronger support systems and a clearer sense of future opportunities. When students receive consistent, comprehensive health education and feel supported in school, their long-term outcomes improve in ways that align with Colorado’s postsecondary workforce and education goals. Our data shows not only the depth of need, but the real possibility of progress when rural districts are given the tools to act.

Without this funding, the teacher training, family engagement and student support that strengthen our district will be extremely difficult to sustain. Teachers will lose access to the high-quality coaching that makes this work effective. Families will lose the transparency and partnership they rely on. Students will lose instruction that increases their knowledge, strengthens their safety and supports a climate of trust and connection that boosts graduation and lowers dropout rates. 

In a high-need, high-risk community like ours, there is no alternative funding source waiting to take its place, even as this work has the potential to benefit thousands more students across the San Luis Valley and the state.

For our community, this is not an abstract question about budgets. This decision directly affects the health, safety and future of our students. Our students deserve the version of this work that is strengthened by training, coaching, clear policy and family partnership, not the version that depends on whether a rural district can stretch limited resources just far enough.

Colorado now has a choice — and that choice sits with state lawmakers and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment as they finalize the 2026-27 budget. The state can continue supporting a program that has produced measurable progress for students in rural communities like ours, or it can walk away from years of meaningful improvement.

Legislators should protect CHSE funding based on its demonstrated impact in rural communities like Center. Our students cannot afford to lose this program — and neither can Colorado.

Katrina Ruggles, of Center, is the director of Regional Collaboration and Innovation for the San Luis Valley Board of Cooperative Educational Services, holds a doctorate in counselor education and supervision, and is a dual-licensed clinical and school counselor.

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