{"id":1063,"date":"2026-06-01T15:38:55","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T15:38:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=1063"},"modified":"2026-06-01T15:38:55","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T15:38:55","slug":"leaders-of-colorados-largest-school-districts-spend-tens-of-thousands-of-dollars-on-travel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=1063","title":{"rendered":"Leaders of Colorado\u2019s largest school districts spend tens of thousands of dollars on travel"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Colorado\u2019s five largest school districts spent more than $121,000 in taxpayer money over the past two years to send their superintendents to conferences across the U.S. and as far away as Finland and China, according to expenditures reviewed by The Denver Post. <\/p>\n

The expenses show former Cherry Creek Schools Superintendent Christopher Smith \u2014 whose travel drew scrutiny in recent months \u2014 isn\u2019t the only frequent-flying K-12 leader in metro Denver. <\/p>\n

His peers at the Denver, Jefferson County, Aurora and Douglas County school districts have also had the chance to accrue miles in the past two years as they traveled to places such as Breckenridge, New Orleans and Helsinki, Finland, the expenditures showed. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s not unusual for K-12 district leaders to travel to conferences across the U.S. to receive professional development, but it\u2019s becoming \u201cincreasingly more common\u201d for superintendents to undertake international travel, said Melissa Gibson, executive director for the Colorado Association of School Executives.<\/p>\n

\u201cProfessional learning has always been a priority and, frankly, should be a priority,\u201d she said. \u201c\u2026A lot of the highest quality conferences really occur at the national level.\u201d<\/p>\n

The expenditures reviewed by The Post covered a range of costs, including the superintendents\u2019 airfare, mileage, meals, hotels and other travel expenses for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 fiscal years.<\/p>\n

The travel costs for each superintendent reflect a small portion of each district\u2019s budget, but come as K-12 systems are tightening spending and closing schools amid declining enrollment and other financial pressures. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt just sounds like a lot of money when schools are laying off teachers,\u201d said Jane Feldman, an ethics consultant who previously was executive director of the Colorado Independent Ethics Commission, of the superintendents\u2019 travel expenses. She is also chair of the Denver Board of Ethics. \u201c\u2026It\u2019s a lot given the current economic pinch that all governments are under.\u201d \t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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Among the state\u2019s five largest districts, Denver Public Schools Superintendent Alex Marrero spent the most money \u2014 $37,433 \u2014 on travel to conferences, including to Helsinki and Shanghai, China, documents show. <\/p>\n

Marrero\u2019s travel appears to exceed similar trips taken by his predecessors.<\/p>\n

Former DPS Superintendent Tom Boasberg spent at least $8,927 traveling to conferences during his final two years leading Colorado\u2019s largest K-12 district \u2014 although records for him were incomplete. Susana C\u00f3rdova, who preceded Marrero, spent less than $5,000 on travel as her tenure overlapped with the pandemic. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is important for the superintendent to also collaborate with, and learn from, other similar districts nationwide for the benefit of our students,\u201d spokesman Bill Good said in a statement. \u201cAs such, travel is an expected and endorsed part of the superintendent\u2019s role and has been included in each of his contracts.\u201d \t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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Marrero traveled abroad to attend conferences held by the Global Cities Education Network, an organization that Good said has a long history with DPS. Boasberg also attended conferences hosted by the organization, he said. <\/p>\n

Jeffco Public Schools\u2019 outgoing Superintendent Tracy Dorland spent the least amount of money \u2014 $6,408.53 \u2014 of the five metro Denver leaders, The Post found. <\/p>\n

DPS and Jeffco Public Schools are the state\u2019s largest and second-largest K-12 districts, respectively. They each operate a roughly $1 billion budget. <\/p>\n

Aurora Public Schools Superintendent Michael Giles and Douglas County Superintendent Erin Kane spent $29,039 and $25,212, respectively, on travel during the same time period.<\/p>\n

Smith, who previously ran Cherry Creek Schools, spent $23,499 on travel to conferences before he resigned in January. <\/p>\n

An outside investigation found that Smith and his wife, Brenda Smith, the district\u2019s former human resources director, likely violated district policy by charging Cherry Creek Schools for costs of events they did not attend or only partially attended. <\/p>\n

The district fired Brenda Smith earlier this month, citing multiple policy violations related to travel and contracts. The outside investigation did not find the Smiths violated district policy by accepting\u00a0paid trips to Brazil and Guatemala, but ethics experts told The Post likely violated a state law that prohibits government officials from accepting gifts that can influence their decision-making. <\/p>\n

Get more Colorado news by signing up for our Mile High Roundup email newsletter.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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Colorado\u2019s five largest school districts spent more than $121,000 in taxpayer money over the past two years to send their superintendents to national and international conferences.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1062,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nLeaders of Colorado\u2019s largest school districts spend tens of thousands of dollars on travel - Colorado Springs Moverss<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=1063\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Leaders of Colorado\u2019s largest school districts spend tens of thousands of dollars on travel - 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