CASTLE ROCK, Colo. — The school board in one of the Denver metro area's most conservative counties is again asking voters to raise their own taxes to supplement funding for the state's third largest school district.
On Tuesday, the Douglas County School Board approved placing two measures on the ballot, a mill levy override and a bond question, aimed at raising more than half a million dollars to increase staff pay and build new schools.
A similar measure failed by a narrow margin in last November's election.
"I would say last year it was urgent and this year we're at critical," said Superintendent Erin Kane. "We walked into this school year down 104 bus drivers, which is crazy. That's more than half of our entire driving force."
The district is rotating school bus coverage to make it up— families will be able to send their kids to school on buses for four weeks, then will have no bus coverage on the fifth.
Nearly half— 44%— of new licensed employee candidates have declined Douglas County district job offers this year because she can't pay them as much as other nearby districts, Kane said.
"When someone right across the way offers you $19,000 dollars more a year, it's really hard to turn that away," she said.
The district is growing fast and losing educators, Kane said. Voters in November will decide whether to help by raising their own taxes.
"If we want to be able to continue that level of excellence, we have to hold on to the educators that are delivering that level of excellence to our students," Kane said.
She said if the measures pass, a person with a $1 million home would pay about $200 more in taxes per year, for example. But voters could be reluctant to increase taxes at all after receiving high property tax assessments earlier in the year.
"Absolutely it's a challenge," Kane said. "At the end of the day, it's going to be up to our taxpayers to decide on the things that matter to their community."
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