The technology, called the Electron Beam Dust Mitigation system, uses electron beams to repel and remove space dust from surfaces, including spacesuits, solar panels, optical lenses and thermal blankets. The technology has demonstrated cleaning efficacy of up to 92% for those surfaces, and it could help mitigate dust hazards for space exploration, especially places like the Moon, which has lunar dust.

The team of researchers is part of CU Boulder’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics and founded a company called Space Dust Research & Technologies LLC. The company was one of 10 winners of NASA’s TechLeap Prizes in the Space Technology Payload Challenge. Their Electron Beam Dust Mitigation system was selected out of more than 200 applicants. The team will receive up to $500,000 and the opportunity to flight test their technology next summer.

“We are thrilled by the opportunity to build a flight-ready model of the Electron Beam Dust Mitigation technology to potentially benefit future lunar missions,” LASP researcher and company co-founder Xu Wang said in a release.

Dust mitigation is a major issue for NASA because it gets everywhere. Lunar dust, or dust on the moon, is extremely fine, abrasive and sharp, according to NASA, which makes it a bigger threat. The lunar dust, which is made from crushed rocks, can clog mechanisms, interfere with instruments, cause radiators to overheat and tear up spacesuits.

“EBDM has the potential to extend the life of rovers, landers, habitats, and other crucial assets on the lunar surface,” company co-founder and CU Boulder physics professor Mihaly Horanyi said in a release.

The goal of the NASA TechLeap Prize is to support future missions and reduce risk, according to its website. NASA wants to more quickly identify and develop technologies that could help solve critical space problems, such as lunar dust.

The 16-year-old was shot while sitting in his car outside of the school on Feb. 13, 2023, and died more than two weeks later. Luis’s death was one of two high-profile shootings at East two years ago.

The Denver Police Department’s investigation into the shooting remains open and no one has been arrested, despite the family’s lawsuit against DPS alleging that authorities know who killed Luis.

“For whatever reason, the district attorney’s office refuses to charge this person,” said Matthew Barringer, the family’s attorney, in an interview Thursday. “…You still have a dead kid that no one in city government seems to care about.”

Matt Jablow, a spokesman for the Denver District Attorney’s Office, said in a statement Friday that the investigation into Luis’s death is still active.

“Luis Garcia’s death was a terrible tragedy that deeply impacted his family, friends and countless Denver residents,” he said. “We remain optimistic that the person or people responsible will be held accountable.”

The teen’s family sued Denver Public Schools and the Board of Education last year in an effort to hold the district liable for the shooting via the state’s Claire Davis School Safety Act.

The lawsuit argued that DPS officials didn’t do enough to protect students because the district had removed school resource officers from campus years earlier.

But Denver District Judge Kandace Gerdes dismissed the lawsuit on July 18, agreeing with DPS attorneys that the shooting didn’t occur on school property, but rather on a public roadway in front of East.

“DPS extends its deepest sympathies to the Garcia-Bobadilla family and all affected by Luis’s loss,” district spokesman Bill Good said in a statement. “The court ruled the 2023 shooting, though tragic, did not occur on Denver Public Schools property, releasing the district of any responsibility.”

Barringer said he is appealing the judge’s ruling.

“While we respect her order, obviously we disagree with it,” he said.

Gerdes’s order dismissing the lawsuit said attorneys for both DPS and the Garcia family claimed Luis was murdered by a person identified in court documents only as A.A.

A.A. is a minor and did not attend East, according to court documents.

The Garcia family also sued A.A. and their parent, but neither has acknowledged the lawsuit or shown up in court, Barringer said.

Denver police initially said after the shooting that they were investigating a 17-year-old for illegal possession of a handgun and a 16-year-old for auto theft and felony eluding. But neither were arrested on charges related to Luis’s death.

“Does anyone not want to give any justice to this family?” Barringer said. “It’s not like they don’t know who this person is.”

On Feb. 13, 2023, A.A.  stole a white Kia Sportage, picked up another person and went “joy riding” around the city, the lawsuit alleged.

A.A. had firearms, ammunition and other weapons — including a Fifth Generation Glock Model G45 that was used during the shooting, according to court documents.

Luis left East that afternoon in a black Honda Accord, traveling north on City Park Esplanade, which is the road in front of the high school. A.A. drove east on East 17th Avenue and the two reached the intersection of the two streets just after 2:30 p.m, according to the judge’s order.

A.A. then ran a red light and stopped in the intersection with his car in front of Luis’s vehicle. A.A. began shooting out a passenger-side window and fired as many as eight shots at Luis before fleeing, according to court documents.

Luis, who was shot in the head, was taken to Denver Health, where he later died.

“All the Garcias have ever wanted in this…was some sort of peace and some sort of closure,” Barringer said. ”It’s astonishing to me that the Denver District Attorney’s Office refuses to give them (any).”

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A Catholic church in Douglas County is petitioning to make Kendrick Castillo, the student killed in the 2019 STEM School Highlands Ranch shooting, a saint.

The Catholic Diocese of Colorado Springs confirmed that it is reviewing a petition from St. Mark Parish in Highlands Ranch to open a cause for Castillo’s canonization, according to an announcement this week.

“Although I have just begun to review the information submitted, it seems clear that Kendrick was an exceptional young man,” Colorado Springs Bishop James Golka said in a statement. “As we study and discern how to approach the massive undertaking of promoting a canonization cause, I ask all the faithful to keep Kendrick’s family in their prayers.”

Father Gregory Bierbaum and Father Patrick DiLoreto of St. Mark Parish collected testimony and interviews about Castillo to determine whether his life was “one of heroic virtue” — an initial step in the canonization process, according to The Denver Catholic, published by the Archdiocese of Denver.

Representatives of the Archdiocese of Denver and the Diocese of Colorado Springs both declined interviews for this story.

If Golka approves the petition, he will then send it to the Vatican, where the Pope will decide whether the candidate lived a life of “heroic virtue.” If they did, then the Pope would give them the title of “venerable.” Next, a miracle must be granted via prayers made to the person after their death, which the church sees as proof they are in heaven, according to the BBC.

A second confirmed miracle is often needed for a person to achieve sainthood.

It can take several years for a person to be sainted, according to The Denver Catholic.

In 2016, the Denver Archdiocese began seeking sainthood for Julia Greeley, a formerly enslaved person. Her remains were exhumed from a grave in suburban Denver cemetery and placed at an altar at the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception — one of the steps in the sainthood process.

The petition for Greeley was accepted by the Vatican, but is still being considered, according to The Denver Catholic.

Castillo, 18, was shot when he rushed one of the shooters in his classroom. Students have said his actions that day allowed his peers to take cover under their desks and escape.

Castillo was hailed a hero after the shooting and during his memorial service, Douglas County sheriff’s deputies led the procession to the church — an honor typically reserved for fallen officers.

“…Kendrick Castillo gave his life to stop a school shooting at STEM Highlands Ranch, thereby saving the lives of his classmates,” DiLoreto of St. Mark Parish said on Facebook regarding the church’s petition. “He was a devote (sic) Catholic and wanted to introduce others around him to the Catholic faith and into (a) relationship with Jesus Christ.”

Castillo’s parents, John and Maria, could not be reached for comment Thursday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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The school board hired David D. Powell Jr. with the Denver firm Garnett Powell Maximon Barlow and Farbes to conduct the investigation, according to a contract obtained by The Denver Post via an open records request.

Board President Carrie Olson said in May that directors planned to investigate Marrero’s allegations that Youngquist discriminated against employees of color. The contract shows that the investigation is now underway.

“Due to the nature of the complaint and the parties involved, it cannot be investigated internally,” Olson said in a statement Wednesday.

Youngquist said in an interview that he welcomed the investigation, but wished it had occurred before Marrero’s allegations were publicized.

“I’m glad that there will be an external investigation,” he said. “…A deep, impartial, fair investigation is necessary and important, and that is something that looks like is going to be happening.”

The board hired Powell to conduct the investigation on June 26. Any work by the firm’s partners will be billed to the board at an hourly rate of $425, according to the contract.

The hourly fee for any work on the investigation by the firm’s associates and paralegals is $375 and $200, respectively, according to the contract.

Powell declined to comment for this story.

Marrero sent an email to Olson in April asking the board to censure — or formally rebuke — Youngquist. He accused the school board member of hostile behavior toward staff, especially employees of color.

“Mr. Youngquist has repeatedly engaged in belittling, dismissive and condescending behavior toward district staff, especially employees of color,” Marrero wrote at the time.

He also accused Youngquist of wanting his job and actively working against the district.

The last time a DPS board censured a member was in 2021 after an outside investigation found Auon’tai Anderson had flirted online with a teenage student and made intimidating social media posts. The school board does not have the authority to remove a member.

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Conflict has escalated in the weeks after the University of Colorado Board of Regents censured Regent Wanda James as each side has refused to back down from their position and been unable to find common ground.

James maintains that she has done nothing wrong and, since her censure on July 2, has called the board “racist” and “anti-black” on her LinkedIn page — and on Facebook wrote that the board has “joined hands with the MAGA crowd and endangered Black voices.”

Board of Regents Chair Callie Rennison said the accusations of racism are unfounded.

“Those are completely ridiculous attempts to distract from the issue at hand, not dissimilar from tactics used by other prominent politicians,” Rennison said.

The Board of Regents is the elected body that oversees the CU system.

The board decided in a 7-1 vote July 2 to censure, or formally reprimand, James, saying she violated her fiduciary responsibilities under regent policy, which requires regents to reasonably act in the best interest of the university. The board determined, based on an independent investigation, that James advocated to defund a state-funded CU campaign about the risks of high-potency marijuana.

James disagrees about the reason she was censured, saying the board did it because they’re tired of her bringing up issues of racism.

“They want me silenced, and that’s exactly what they did,” James said.

The matter began in January when James, a marijuana dispensary owner, raised concerns about what she said were racially insensitive images used in an educational campaign called “The Tea on THC,” produced by the Colorado School of Public Health at CU’s Anschutz Medical Campus. She brought her concerns to CU President Todd Saliman and CU Anschutz Chancellor Don Elliman, who agreed the images were racist and had them removed within 24 hours. Public statements containing apologies from the campaign and the School of Public Health were issued within two days.

In the following days and months, James continued to speak publicly on social media, in emails and in news media interviews, discrediting the campaign and saying its funding from the state should be revoked.

“It is my goal that the funding for this group is pulled by the state,” James wrote on LinkedIn within days of becoming aware of the images. “I am working to make that happen.” According to an investigation report, she also posted on Instagram that she “will be … speaking with the governor about this.”

A Governor’s Office spokesperson, Ally Sullivan, said Gov. Jared Polis was skeptical of funding the “The Tea on THC” program long before James got involved. Polis had suggested cutting the campaign’s funding to the state’s Joint Budget Committee before and after James said the funding should be pulled.

“The Governor was not influenced by Regent James and has long been skeptical of the funding,” Sullivan wrote in an email to the Daily Camera. “He is mystified as to how CU could justify spending hundreds of thousands of dollars investigating a Regent that was just doing her job as an elected official.”

The censure is not because James flagged the racist images in the campaign, Rennison said, adding that James was right to do so. The censure, she said, came because James later advocated for funding to be taken away from the campaign.

“That is inappropriate for any regent to do, to advocate for defunding money away from CU,” Rennison said.

Regent Elliott Hood said the censure came because James baselessly attacked one of CU’s scientific research programs, tried to undermine the integrity of the research and advocated to defund that program.

“I think that’s highly problematic, especially at a time where science is under attack from certain corners of the government and funding for science is uncertain,” Hood said. Researchers “don’t need their elected leaders casting unfounded doubt on the integrity of their work.”

Regent and Board Vice Chair Ken Montera said a solution to the situation will likely require James to take some level of responsibility and an admission on her part that she acted inappropriately. Sanctions against James are in effect until the end of her term as regent in 2029, but they can be revised or removed before that if the board decides to do so.

“We acted as quickly as possible when Wanda expressed her concern (about the images), and I believe it’s completely inappropriate to advocate for the defunding of a legitimate, state-funded research program and to question the credibility of that research without any evidence or scientific backing,” Montera said.

Investigation report

In the spring, CU’s university counsel hired two law firms to conduct the independent investigation into James, intentionally seeking out one progressive-leaning firm and one conservative-leaning firm. The law firms worked together to interview 15 witnesses including James, gathered and reviewed documents including e-mails, text messages, social media posts and news articles, analyzed applicable regent policies and conducted legal research.

The total cost of the investigation as of June is $462,900, which includes James’ investigation and a separate investigation into Rennison, which cleared her of allegations that she had been paid full-time for part-time work at CU Denver. The investigation is being paid for by the CU system’s office of risk management.

The resulting investigation report provided a timeline of events and evidence that resulted from their investigation.

On Nov. 12, 2024, the report noted that the state’s Joint Budget Committee discussed cutting the “The Tea on THC” campaign by $1 million because of a need to balance budgets due to declining marijuana revenue projections. This occurs about a month before James is made aware of the campaign.

On Dec. 19, the Colorado School of Public Health announces the launch of its “Tea on THC” public awareness campaign. James becomes aware of the campaign and the images on Jan. 25, according to the report. On Jan. 26, James speaks with a representative from the Governor’s Office about the images and funding, where she’s told that the state is already considering cutting funding from the campaign for reasons unrelated to the images.

“While James is on the phone with the representative from the Governor’s office, she texts screenshots of the images to the Governor and asks if he has seen them,” according to the report. “The Governor replies that they are ‘awful.’ Per James, this is the only direct contact she has with the Governor about the Tea on THC campaign.”

James also contacts Saliman and Elliman on Jan. 26 and raises her concerns about the images. Later that day, a representative from the Colorado School of Public Health contacts Initium Health, the partner organization that helped develop the campaign, via text to remove the images and issue two apologies, one on behalf of the School of Public Health and one on behalf of Initium. The same day, Initium confirms it has removed the Instagram post with the images, and Initium removes the images from the campaign’s website either on this day or the next day, according to the report.

On Jan. 28, the School of Public Health posts an apology on its website and links to a statement from Initium also apologizing for the images, according to the report. Hours later, James takes to Instagram, calling the campaign “scientifically dishonest” and saying the data the campaign relies on has been “debunked by numerous doctors and numerous studies.” She adds that the state “should immediately revoke all funding associated with this reckless campaign.”

That same day, James sends an email to a group of people she calls “CU Black Leadership,” where she writes that she is “working with the governor’s office to pull funding from Anschutz” and “looking at having that money moved to the Cannabis Business Office, which provides grants and training for Social Equity Cannabis Businesses.”

Later, in her interview with the law firms, lawyers asked James about her statements in that email.

“In her interview, James stated that she was not working with the Governor’s office to pull funding from the University, despite saying she was doing that in this email,” the report read, adding that James elaborated to say that the Governor’s Office already pulled the money.

On Jan. 29, James is quoted in an article in the Green Market Report, a publication that reports on news in the cannabis industry, as saying she spoke with the governor and members of his team to look at pulling funding from the School of Public Health. In her interview with the law firms, James says she was misquoted by Green Market Report and says she only spoke to members of the governor’s team. She is paraphrased in a Westword article on Jan. 30 that she wants to see the entire campaign pulled, and the remaining funds directed to grants for marijuana business owners who qualify for social equity licenses. Those licenses are available to promote equitable cannabis business ownership. When asked by the university’s law firms if this was accurate, James responded, “I don’t know, maybe yes,” adding she always says in media interviews that money should go to social equity businesses, according to the report.

On Jan. 31, the Governor’s Office requests fully eliminating all $2 million in funding for the “Tea on THC” campaign.

On Feb. 27, James writes in an email to a group labeled “Black Trustees” that the campaign was “reinforcing harmful stereotypes rather than promoting legitimate, research-based education. That is why the $2 million in funding was pulled from Anschutz.”

On March 17, the Governor’s Office submits budget “comebacks,” again requesting to cut the $2 million that funds the Tea on THC campaign. On March 20, the Joint Budget Committee ultimately rejects proposed cuts to the School of Public Health, providing the full $2 million in funding.

Censure and sanctions

James told the Daily Camera on Wednesday that she still believes the “Tea on THC” campaign “is not science” and that “the funding should’ve been pulled.” She said she has a First Amendment right to say that and have an opinion on the matter.

“But did I lobby for that to happen? Absolutely not,” James said.

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser weighed in on the matter on July 13 when he posted on social media platform X that “to protect the right of free expression and the fair treatment of CU Regent James, the Board of Regents would do well to reconsider its action against her.” He said he was concerned about the sanctioning, adding that the First Amendment protects the right to free expression.

When asked if Weiser continues to stand by his July 13 statements, Attorney General’s Office Director of Communications Lawrence Pacheco said to refer to Weiser’s statement on X.

Hood said the censure doesn’t violate James’ free speech, a finding that was supported by the university’s legal counsel and the two law firms.

“While people are allowed to speak freely, we as a board are entitled to enforce our objective standards and expectations to all regents, including our fiduciary duties,” Hood said. “The right to free speech doesn’t shield someone from violating those standards, and it’s important that we enforce those standards consistently, regardless of the regent and without fear or favor.”

Other people and organizations have also backed James, including the Colorado Black Democrats and the Greater Metro Denver Ministerial Alliance. In addition to backing James, the Greater Metro Denver Ministerial Alliance called for the immediate resignation of Saliman. James said that demand has nothing to do with her and that she is not calling for Saliman’s resignation. The decision to censure can only be made by the Board of Regents. The board is a power above Saliman and oversees his employment.

Hood and Regent Ilana Spiegel said some of the online activity by James and her supporters has crossed a line. James has levied personal attacks against the two of them on Facebook, for example, posting on July 6 that they “chose to be antiBlack and stand with MAGA Republicans.” She also made comments prompting people to imagine if the images in the “Tea on THC” campaign were antisemitic, and tagged Spiegel, who is Jewish.

James also posted on Facebook that “we need to make sure that NO ONE continues to support Ilana Dubin Spiegel on her re-election campaign and anyone who is supporting her should be called out. …”

In response to those posts, Spiegel told the Daily Camera that “online harassment and intimidation, it’s never OK. I work really hard every day to remain focused on my family, my work I have to do every day and the work of being a regent.”

Spiegel said she wants people to know she and her colleagues remain committed to their work and responsibilities as regents.

“I remain committed to what I take very seriously, and that’s my work for students and families, the work we need to do to protect life-saving research and medical care, and continue to try to build a University of Colorado that reflects the diversity of the state,” she said.

Hood said that declining to censure James in this situation would signal to other regents that attacking and trying to defund CU’s research, whether it’s about cannabis or climate change, is acceptable.

“That is not a precedent that I am willing to set,” Hood said. “I take that very seriously.”

The regents have also enacted a series of sanctions against James as a result of the censure. They acted to remove James from all regent committee assignments, including regent committee leadership positions, and preclude any future assignments. She will not be allowed to attend university events as a regent, but she will still be able to attend regent meetings and be an active voting member of the board. For example, she can still attend CU Buffs football games but will no longer receive free tickets.

The sanctions against James are in effect until the end of her term as regent in 2029, but they can be revised or removed before that if the board decides to do so. Rennison said the board wants to find a solution and has held “countless” meetings and talks as a group and individually with James, both before the censure investigation and after it, but said James has been unwilling to compromise.

James has not admitted any wrongdoing and called for the board to apologize and remove the sanctions and censure. Rennison said the board is not willing to do so unless James takes some level of accountability, even if it’s an admission that she could’ve made better decisions.

“We have continued to attempt to find a place of peace, and it’s my opinion that that’s not what she’s interested in,” Rennison said. “That’s been frustrating.”

James refuted that and said it is “a complete lie” that the board has come to her to try to resolve the issue.

“It’s time to get back to work for the students,” James said. “It appears we have lost focus on why we were elected.”

In 2022, the Board of Regents censured Regent Glen Gallegos after the board found that he had repeatedly engaged in hostile and abusive verbal behavior toward women.

To view the investigation report and related documents, visit tinyurl.com/CURegentInvestigation.

But the Chicago-area mom ran into repeated roadblocks — federal privacy laws — that turned an already stressful time into a nightmare.

Her son, Vance Hughes, had recently turned 18, meaning she no longer had unfettered access to his medical records or his health insurance and financial information.

“It really got me thinking, ‘Gosh, what are we going to do if something happens when he’s at college and he needs our support? Will we be able to give it to him legally?'” Jennifer Hughes said. “I know it sounds crazy, but that was a concern.”

Hughes’ fears were quelled by a company with a name that resonated: Mama Bear Legal Forms. For under $100, college-bound kids can sign privacy waivers, granting their parents access to their medical records and educational information, including grades.

Technological advances have increasingly given parents the ability to track their children’s locations and technology usage. Mama Bear taps into a market of parents accustomed to this vigilance who realize their access changes when their kids turn 18 and are subject to medical- and student-privacy laws.

Mama Bear’s website provides a bundle of health and financial power-of-attorney forms, a release waiving the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA, which prevents parents from accessing their child’s educational records once they turn 18, and a release waiving the student’s federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, medical-privacy rights.

Representatives of the Nebraska-based company did not respond to interview requests.

Mama Bear, which is not a law firm and doesn’t offer legal advice, markets itself as a solution for anxious parents to “feel confident knowing you can support your college-bound child.”

“It’s a small price to pay for peace of mind,” said Ruth Epps, a Littleton mom whose son at the University of Colorado Boulder signed Mama Bear legal forms.

Chatter about Mama Bear’s services pops up every few weeks in CU-related Facebook groups, where parents crowdsource questions about their children’s dorm-room assignments, ask where they can order soup for a sick kid, and find out which classes are best.

Parents on Facebook wrote that their social media feeds were filled with Mama Bear ads and posts wanting to know more from families who have used the services. Others replied that the company’s offerings felt like the answer to a problem they didn’t know they had yet.

It was a problem Hughes knew intimately. The professional blogger at mommyevolution.com said her son’s mountain biking accident opened her eyes to an issue that hadn’t been on her radar.

Vance Hughes is headed to CU Boulder this fall to study psychology — and ski in his downtime.

When his mom approached him about signing the Mama Bear documents to give her access to his health, financial and educational records, he said it was a no-brainer.

He knew the trouble his mom had been through dealing with his insurance after his biking accident and wanted to prevent that headache while allowing his parents more control over his medical decisions should an emergency happen again.

“The biggest thing for me is my mom can still hold my hand and help me through my formative years of becoming an adult as long as I need help in the future,” Vance Hughes said. “I don’t see the harm in it.”

Vance Hughes said he has a great relationship with his mom. He couldn’t imagine her using her new legal access to pry into his life willy-nilly.

“She’ll probably only look if I’m really, really struggling, and that will allow her to be like, ‘What can I do to help you?'” he said.

Jennifer Hughes agreed. Her son knows she wouldn’t misuse her new power, she said, and she knows he would willingly discuss his grades without her having to snoop.

“You think about your kid being an adult, but he’s still your kid, and they may need your assistance,” she said. “It’s not about making sure you keep a thumb on them. It’s that in case of an emergency, you can support them in the best way they need. He’s going to college to be his own person, and this is a great place for him to start learning how to adult.”

‘A one-size-fits-all approach’

Jennifer Hendricks, a CU Boulder law professor and co-director of the Juvenile and Family Law Program, wasn’t as sold on Mama Bear Legal Forms.

It wasn’t so much the medical directive or health care power of attorney that concerned her, although she noted it was more likely a parent would need those forms for themselves than for their children.

What worried Hendricks was what she described as fear-based marketing and a potential overreach in signing away students’ FERPA and HIPAA rights.

These forms go beyond allowing parents to have a say if a medical emergency strikes, she said. They could inform mom and dad that their child is talking to a therapist, taking birth control or going to the health center for a nasty hangover, Hendricks said.

“What I’m seeing is really infantilizing the adult children by having the mom prepare everything and then just say ‘sign this,'” Hendricks said.

Colorado-based family law attorney Rich Harris said he’s had conversations with his own family about whether they should consider some of these legal forms for their college-aged children. He advised talking to legal experts rather than outsourcing to a one-size-fits-all internet option.

“There’s a trend in these do-it-yourself legal form companies,” Harris said. “I’ve been cautioning people for years to be very, very careful about them because they purport to give you a one-size-fits-all approach for a super low fee and offer very little legal customization.”

Plus, Hendricks said, there are existing, free medical and university release forms allowing students to decide which parts of their lives their parents can access. For example, university FERPA waivers allow parents and kids to sign off on parents having access to their students’ financial information — useful for parents who are paying their kids’ tuition or handling financial aid forms.

“Parents have been trained to have a real sort of dystopian level of surveillance over their children, and this is a company trying to make money off of profiting off that anxiety and the need to monitor and surveil rather than to prepare their child to be an adult,” Hendricks said. “The company is playing on this fear that something terrible could happen and you won’t be able to help your kid.”

‘A gradual roll into adulthood’

Epps, the Littleton mom, felt her fear realized after her son got sick while at CU Boulder. He didn’t know how to advocate for himself when he went to the doctor, she said, and he didn’t say much when she asked how his appointment went. She tried to call the university to learn more, but was told she couldn’t access his medical information.

Epps’ son ended up developing pneumonia and needed to come home to get better, missing about a month of school, she said.

“Now that he has Mama Bear in place, I can talk to anyone,” she said. “Which would hopefully prevent something like that from happening in the future. I would have known had they said his oxygen levels are low that things were bad.”

Yet Epps would not define herself as a “mama bear.” Instead, she said she hails from the “suck it up, buttercup” line of parenting.

However, when she saw Mama Bear all over her social media feeds, she said it felt like the answer to anxieties that ramped up after her son’s sickness.

“I cannot recommend enough that people do it because you will have no authority, and it happens the day they turn 18,” Epps said. “There’s no grace period. There’s no, ‘Oh, let’s help you get used to this.’ It’s 18, and you’re cut off.”

Epps said she doesn’t track her son’s grades, but that it’s a nice feature to have just in case. Plus, she said the whole thing is a good deal because it doesn’t expire until her son revokes it, meaning she doesn’t have to pay some kind of annual fee.

She said she didn’t have much of a conversation with her son about the paperwork.

“I think I just said ‘sign this,'” she said. “I just don’t think they understand, to go from having someone who makes all of your medical appointments for you and manages your prescription drugs to being completely alone — they don’t understand that it’s so sudden. We’re covering his tuition and living expenses, so there’s a gradual roll into adulthood. It’s not like that for this. They’re so strict about privacy laws.”

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The funding freeze was set to upend the upcoming school year as districts had already budgeted the federal money and hired employees. Without the funds, Colorado school districts were preparing to cut jobs and programs.

The U.S. Education Department unexpectedly froze $6.8 billion in funding for literacy, English language instruction and other programs on the day before it was set to be distributed, part of what officials said was a review to ensure spending aligned with the White House’s priorities.

The money had already been appropriated by Congress and was required by law to go to the states on July 1.

“Federal dollars provide critical support for every child in Colorado — no matter where they live — to learn, grow and thrive,” Colorado Education Commissioner Susana Córdova said in an email to superintendents Friday.

“We are grateful to U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and to the many educators, district leaders, community partners, elected officials and public education supporters who advocated for the release of these much-needed funds,” she said.

The Education Department said Friday that the Office of Management and Budget had completed its review of the programs paid for by the withheld funds and will begin sending the money to states next week.

The Trump administration last week released part of the education money—  about $1.3 billion nationwide and more than $12.8 million for Colorado — that had been earmarked for after-school programs.

The decision came after a group of 10 Republican senators urged the administration to send the funds to districts. Colorado and dozens of other states also sued the Trump administration over its decision to hold back the school funding.

But the bulk of the money remained frozen.

“These are critical funds that Congress promised to our schools,” Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said in a statement. “…I am pleased by this announcement and will continue to ensure that the Trump administration follows through and follows the law.”

The funding that was under review included $2 billion in grants for teachers’ professional development and efforts to reduce class size; $1.3 billion for after-school and summer learning programs; $1 billion for academic enrichment grants, often used for science and math education and accelerated learning; $890 million for students who are learning English; $376 million to educate the children of migrant workers; and $715 million to teach adults how to read.

In withholding the funds, the Office of Management and Budget had said some of the programs supported a “radical leftwing agenda.”

“We share your concern,” the GOP senators wrote. “However, we do not believe that is happening with these funds.”

Gov. Jared Polis said in a statement that he was thrilled the funding would come through, but noted that “this uncertainty created significant chaos for families and schools with the school year only weeks away.”

In total, the Trump administration temporarily froze about $80 million in education funding for Colorado. 

“The Trump administration’s late-June announcement to freeze previously approved (federal) grant funding for schools sent shockwaves across the country,” Denver Public Schools spokesman Scott Pribble said in a statement.”This funding is absolutely critical for the education and well-being of many students, especially those who are most vulnerable, and for the teachers who support them.”

But Colorado’s largest K-12 district isn’t breathing a sigh of relief, Pribble said.

“Future years of (federal) funding are still in potential jeopardy,” he said. “So, while this is good, the long-term picture remains uncertain.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Bret Heller, newly hired superintendent, began work the first of this month, and is in the midst of familiarizing himself with the district before students arrive for their first classes next month.

Heller took over the role from Marc Schaffer, the previous superintendent who had held the position since 2017. He said his main goal, something that he’s worked to achieve at his prior school districts, was to ensure that TSD was “a school system, not a system of schools,” emphasizing cohesion across the district while still respecting the individual solutions of each campus.

Sitting in his office Wednesday, already decorated with a charming mix of nerdy memorabilia like a Tardis, the phone booth used to travel through time in Doctor Who, and miniature football helmets, along with plenty of books on education, Heller said that his first two weeks have largely involved meeting staff, visiting schools and hearing from principals about the issues they face, and otherwise familiarizing himself with the day-to-day operations of the district.

“Lots of people wonder ‘what’s your vision, what are your goals?’” he said of those initial meetings. “And, fair! But it’s really early. Part of that is that I need to listen, I need to learn, I need to build connections and relationships and trust. A change at the superintendent level is a big change, and it can impact so many people. So a lot of folks are wondering what this means for them.”

One of the most consequential elements of TSD that he’s reckoning with is its size.

Heller’s last school district, The School Town of Munster in Indiana, had around 4,000 students across five schools. The one before that, West Ada School District in Idaho, was the largest in the state, serving 40,000 students across 57 schools.

TSD, serving around 15,000 students, was right in the middle of the two, he said.

“The challenges of a really big system is that it can be hard to build those connections,” he said. “I felt like over my career, I had been there long enough that I knew so many people across so many job categories, et cetera. Whereas in Munster, I knew everybody, right? It’s a tiny town, one school district that fed the entire town. I knew lots of students by name. There’s those two extremes. So I’m trying here in Thompson to find how to make the most out of the size that we have.”

It’s an exciting middle ground, he said. On the one hand, the connections that he described are easier to make in a district like TSD compared to West Ada, and on the other, scalability and efficiency are easier to accomplish in a district larger than his prior district in Indiana.

“I want connections to be at the core of what I do, what we do in the district, but also we can take advantage of our size for economies of scale, making sure we’re efficient in how we do business.”

Heller is still listening, but he is beginning to develop a vision for the district.

“The direction I see us needing to move, and this was the case in Munster, Indiana, and it was the case in the West Ada School District, is how do we both honor the individuality of the school campus, the culture and values of who they are, but also build these systems, so no matter which school your child attends, they’re getting a high quality education? You know what to expect, and you know that there are systems in place to make sure your child doesn’t fall through the cracks.”

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The U.S. Department of Education did not release all of the money the agency unexpectedly froze earlier this month. Nationwide, K-12 school districts are still without more than $5 billion that they expected to receive for the 2025-26 academic year.

“I’m grateful this funding is being returned to its rightful place, in our schools, classrooms, and other after-school programs. It should not have been frozen to begin with,” Gov. Jared Polis said in a statement. “… I continue to call on the Trump Administration to do the right thing and restore the remaining withheld funding back to our students.”

President Donald Trump’s administration has not said if it plans to release about $67 million that it is still withholding from Colorado’s K-12 school districts.

Districts expected to receive the money — which was approved by Congress for multilingual students, teacher training and other programs — earlier this month and had already budgeted the money for the upcoming school year.

“Without the grant funds, schools may face significant cuts to programs and services that families and educators rely on,” Colorado Education Commissioner Susana Córdova said in a statement. “These programs help ensure every child — no matter where they live — has the opportunity to learn, grow and succeed.” 

The federal Education Department’s decision to release some of the money comes days after several states, including Colorado, sued the Trump administration for not releasing the funding.

In a letter sent Wednesday, Republican senators said the withheld money supported programs that had longstanding bipartisan support and were critical to local communities.

“We share your concern about taxpayer money going to fund radical left-wing programs,” the senators wrote to the Office of Management and Budget. “However, we do not believe that is happening with these funds.”

The money being released Friday pays for free programming before and after school and during the summer, providing child care so low-income parents can work, or giving options to families who live in rural areas with few other child care providers.

The programs go beyond child care, offering reading and math help to kids, along with enrichment in science and the arts.

The release of the after-school money was a “huge sigh of relief,” said Lake County Superintendent Kate Bartlett, who had been making plans to scale back the after-school program in her Leadville-based district.

“What this preserves is a safe and warm place for kids, and it also preserves what we view as a key plank in economic stability for the community that allows parents to keep working a full day,” she said.

The Associated Press and the New York Times contributed to this story.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Education Department will release $1.3 billion in previously withheld grant money for after-school programs, days after 10 Republican senators sent a letter imploring the Trump administration to allow frozen education money to be sent to states.

Colorado set to receive nearly $13 million after Trump administration releases some frozen K-12 funding

President Donald Trump’s administration on July 1 withheld more than $6 billion in federal grants for after-school and summer programs, adult literacy and English language instruction, as part of a review to ensure spending aligned with the White House’s priorities.

In a letter sent Wednesday, Republican senators said the withheld money supported programs that had longstanding bipartisan support and were critical to local communities.

“We share your concern about taxpayer money going to fund radical left-wing programs,” the senators wrote to the Office of Management and Budget. “However, we do not believe that is happening with these funds.”

A senior administration official said Friday that the programmatic review of the funding for 21st Century Community Learning Centers, which support after-school and summer programming, had been completed. The funding will be released to states, the official said. The rest of the withheld grants, close to $5 billion, continues to be reviewed for bias by the Office of Management and Budget.

Without the money, school districts and nonprofits such as the YMCA and Boys and Girls Club of America had said they would have to close or scale back educational programs this fall. The money being released Friday pays for free programming before and after school and during the summer, providing child care so low-income parents can work, or giving options to families who live in rural areas with few other child care providers.

The programs go beyond child care, offering reading and math help to kids, along with enrichment in science and the arts.

On Monday, more than 20 states had filed a lawsuit challenging the $6 billion funding freeze. The lawsuit, led by California, argued withholding the money was unconstitutional and many low-income families would lose access to critical after-school care if the grants were not released.

David Schuler, executive director of AASA, an association of school superintendents, praised the release of after-school money but said that the remaining education funding should not be withheld.

“Districts should not be in this impossible position where the Administration is denying funds that had already been appropriated to our public schools, by Congress,” Schuler said in a statement. “The remaining funds must be released immediately — America’s children are counting on it.”

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, called on the White House to release the remainder of the funding in a statement Friday.

“Every penny of this funding must flow immediately,” Murray said in a statement. “Whether or not parents know the after-school program they depend on will exist should not depend on whether Republicans will push back against Trump’s lawlessness.”

The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.