On Tuesday, the Dolores County RE-2J School District learned the fate of Rico schools, as well as adding three new board members to the board.

The new members are Kimberly Alexander, Donella Fury and Crystal Jarmon. There were four candidates running for three seats. Alexander, Fury and Jarmon were rerunning, as Alexander and Jarmon’s terms were up and Fury was appointed last December and needed to be officially elected.

Alexander and Fury ran unopposed, while Jarmon ran against Robin Laws for District C.

Out of 720 votes, Jarmon received 75.00% of the vote, while Laws received 25.00%.

Dolores County voters voted for Rico to be annexed from the Dolores County School District. Out of 824 votes, 84.59% voted yes and 15.41% voted no.

Rico students attend Telluride schools, but are under the Dolores County School District. In August of this year, a committee was formed to help annex Rico students from Dolores County and transfer them to the Telluride School District.

There are currently around 25 students from Rico who attend schools in Telluride, after the town’s only school shut its doors in 2018.

Both Dolores County and Telluride County voters were required to vote on the measure.

This change will not affect Dolores County property taxes and will go into effect July 1, 2024.