Thirty-three of Colorado’s 178 districts, representing more than half of all Colorado students, went to voters this year asking for nearly $7 billion in tax measures. More than half of the measures passed, including most of the largest districts asking for support.
The totals are still being finalized by the Colorado School Finance Project.
What were school districts asking for and why?
There are two types of measures. Mill levy overrides are property tax increases to pay for district operations and teachers’ salaries. Bonds are used for one-time expenses to build new school buildings or facilities or do major repairs and upgrades. Some of those bonds were matching bonds with the state's BEST grants. Most of the bond requests this year wouldn’t impose new taxes.
Inflation has hit schools hard, COVID relief dollars ran out this fall and the state still funds schools below the national average. What schools are responsible for, including ramped-up security, mental health and career training has increased greatly over the past decade. Schools are aging and school officials say capital needs are urgent in many districts.
Historically, support for mill levy overrides versus bonds is pretty evenly split, with voter turnout in presidential years fairly supportive of the measures, according to Tracie Rainey, executive director of the Colorado School Finance Project. But this year nine mill levy overrides passed, while six failed.
“It was very difficult for districts to pass mill levy overrides,” Rainey said. “There was more success with bonds, not completely. Any time that you can go to your voters and not have to raise taxes is always a much simpler message.”
First, the districts that have been trying for a while
- Montezuma Cortez School District has never passed a mill levy override before and this year it did, 53 percent to 47 percent.
- Holyoke School District, near the Nebraska border, hadn’t passed a bond in 20 years and this year was the charm by a vote of 52 percent to 48 percent.
- Pueblo County School District 70, which is outside the Pueblo 60 city district, has never passed a tax increase for schools, and once again voters rejected the request 53 percent to 47 percent.
- Harrison School District 2, in Colorado Springs, which hasn’t passed a mill levy override in 20 years passed one this year 55 percent to 45 percent. The money will go to teacher pay and funding for community college scholarships, which previously were funded privately.
- Adams County School District 14, where many residents live in poverty, once again rejected measures to raise teachers’ salaries and build a new middle school. It last passed a bond in 2008 and a mill levy override in the late 1990s.
Karla Loría, superintendent of Adams 14, thanked voters who participated.
“The fact that we were just shy of 300 votes on both measures shows that the community is beginning to rebuild trust in the district,” she said. “This is a clear sign that we’re moving in the right direction and working toward uniting our community for the benefit of our students.”
Here’s how some of the major districts did:
✅ Denver Public Schools: (88,235 students)
Voters soundly passed the largest bond in the district’s history by a vote of 74 percent to 26 percent. The $975 million measure will pay for maintenance at 154 buildings, outdoor classroom upgrades, cafeterias, auditoriums and athletic fields. Most notably, by 2028, all DPS buildings will be air-conditioned. The bond will pay for Chromebooks for students and hotspots for students without internet service at home.
“We are grateful for the foresight of our community to help us ensure that our students will be provided a safe and welcoming environment in which to learn and grow,” said DPS Superintendent Alex Marrero.
More information on what the bond will pay for is here. DPS didn’t seek a mill levy override.
✅ Douglas County School District: (61,964 students)
Voters in the third-largest school district in Colorado passed a $490 million bond by a vote of 59 percent to 41 percent. The money will be used to upgrade aging schools and facilities and will construct two new elementary schools in two growing areas of the county Sterling Ranch and RidgeGate along with expanding one existing middle school. It will also upgrade school safety and security – and build additional courses for students focused on career and technical skills. The district hadn’t passed a bond since 2018.
Here’s more information.
✅ Cherry Creek School District: (52,419 students)
Voters in the fourth-largest school district passed a $9 million phased-in mill levy increase (56 percent to 46 percent) and a $950 million bond (55 percent to 45 percent). The property tax increase will pay for more security personnel, recruiting and developing teachers, internships and apprenticeship opportunities, student mental health and technology. The bond will pay for expanding the district’s innovation center to accommodate 70 percent more students, construction and renovation of buildings, maintenance and technology.
More details are here.
✅ Aurora Public Schools: (39,148 students)
Voters in the fifth-largest school district in Colorado resoundingly passed a $1 billion bond (74 percent to 26 percent) and a $30 capital mill levy 63 percent to 37 percent. It’s called a capital mill levy because it allows districts to raise funds for ongoing building maintenance and smaller-scale improvements. That subsequently frees up more general fund dollars to increase staff salaries, youth mental health and provide career, technology and skilled trade classes offering real-world job skills.
In the northwest, the bond will build a new high school near the Anschutz Medical Campus with a health career focus. Due to growth on the east side of the district, the bond will also be used to build two preschools through 8th grades there as well as a new comprehensive high school. It will also pay for upgrading safety and security, HVAC, and other infrastructure and technology.
More information is here.
✅ 🔻Adams 12 Five Star Schools: (34,998 students)
The district spanning Adams and Broomfield counties is the sixth largest school district in Colorado and had split results. Voters passed a $830 million bond measure 54 percent to 46 percent. It will pay for increased career and technical education, a teardown and rebuild of Thornton High School, and a new central kitchen. They rejected, however, a $35 million property tax increase, 57 percent to 43 percent. The tax hike, costing homeowners about $20 a month more on a $500,000 home, would have boosted teachers’ salaries, added computer science to all schools, and provided more career-focused classes in middle and high schools.
More information is here.
✅ Saint Vrain Valley Schools: (32,506 students)
The district headquartered in Longmont includes parts of Boulder, Broomfield, Larimer, and Weld counties and is Colorado’s seventh largest. Voters approved a $740 million bond 74 percent to 26 percent. The bond prioritizes increasing career-based training in skilled trades, computer systems, cybersecurity, health care and more. It proposes constructing five new schools in high-growth areas of Carbon Valley, Erie and Mead, replacing roofs and HVAC systems and also calls for constructing several specialized centers that enable high school systems to use synchronous learning technology to enroll in course offerings at any high school in the district.
More information is here.
✅ Poudre School District: (29,914 students)
The district in Fort Collins, Windsor, Loveland and unincorporated Larimer County asked voters to support a measure to provide $49 million to fund school construction and maintenance needs. The measure passed 57 percent to 43 percent. Thirty-two schools don’t have cooling. Specifically, the measure will allow the district to extend the life of buildings and reprioritize more general fund dollars for recruitment and retention of staff. It will cost homeowners $25.40 for every $100,000 of home value. The average Poudre teacher salary is $4,000 less than that offered in St. Vrain Valley Schools. It will also pay to expand classrooms for career, technology and skilled trades classes.
More information here.
Other districts
✅ Academy 20
It passed its bond measure 58 percent to 42 percent.
✅ Mesa County District 51
It passed a bond 61 percent to 39 percent and a mill levy override 59 percent to 41 percent.
✅ Durango School District
It passed its $150 million bond by a vote of 61 percent to 39 percent.
✅ Westminster School District
It passed a $11 million bond of 70 percent to 30 percent.
✅ Other districts that passed their measures:
- Platte Valley School District
- Rangely School District
- Lake County School District
- Dolores RE-4
🔻Other districts that failed to pass their measures:
- Thompson School District
- Summit School District
- Fleming Schools
- Elbert County School District C-2
- North Park School District
- Norwood School District R2-JT
- Alamosa School District RE-11J
- Weld RE-10J (Briggsdale)
- Byers School District 32-J
- Montrose County School District RE-1J
- Weld RE-8
- Weld RE-9
- Weld 3-J
- Weld RE-8
