APEF is currently looking for a new board member.

A selected individual will begin a four-year term in June 2024.

Factors for consideration include, but are not limited to previous board experience, financial and/or legal expertise, and school district involvement.

As a non-profit board that oversees the disbursement of public funds, it is important that our members do not have any actual or perceived conflicts of interest. As a result, we will not accept applications from individuals with any of the following affiliations: current district staff or members of the Board of Education, and their spouses or partners; and, members of district-affiliated groups including the District Financial Advisory Board, District Accountability Committee, School Accountability Committees, and Aspen Education Foundation.

Applicants must reside within the Roaring Fork Valley.

Interested applicants should submit a letter of intent and current resume by March 30, 2024, to apefapplication@gmail.com.

APEF Board Member Roles and Responsibilities:

In November 2012, voters within the City of Aspen approved a 0.3% tax increase for the purpose of supporting public K-12 education in the Aspen School District.

Voters approved an extension of the tax in November 2016 and November 2020.

Revenues from this tax total approximately $3 million per year and are used to support Programs; Technology; Special Education; Professional Development; and, the Recruitment, Training and Retention of Staff.

The Aspen Public Education Fund was formed to act as the recipient and disburser of the designated sales tax revenues. As a Colorado non-profit corporation, the Fund operates exclusively for educational and charitable purposes pursuant to Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

The Fund is governed by a 7-person Board of Directors. APEF was established as an instrument for collecting and disbursing sales tax revenues from the City. It does not receive, or transfer gifts or donations intended for the District.

The Board meets two to three times per year to review the District’s grant requests pursuant to the amount of projected income realized by the annual sales tax.

The APEF Board exists to serve only in an oversight role as it relates to accountability of monies earned through the 0.3% tax allocation. The Board is prohibited from unilaterally adding any item to the District’s list of grant requests or from distributing proceeds for any item not requested by the District. It does review financial information to ensure that the district’s grant expenditures are in the areas approved by the voters and are not unreasonable.

It does not review or comment on district policies, curriculum, administration, alternative funding mechanisms, and so forth.