A fresh audit of Denver Public Schools revealed a startling reality: Colorado’s largest school district owes more in long-term debt than it owns in assets.
As The Denver Gazette reported last month, the 2024-25 fiscal year audit revealed DPS carries $4.07 billion in long-term liabilities — far greater than the district’s assets and many times its most recent annual budget of $1.5 billion.
Those long-term liabilities include roughly $2.5 billion in general obligation bonds as well as $785 million in Certificates of Participation and lease-purchase obligations — a financing mechanism being challenged in court for allegedly violating state law…