DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. — Douglas County school board members spent hours Tuesday night discussing whether they would ask residents to vote on a property tax increase in November.
The divided group all agreed to add two measures to the ballot.
One measure would increase teacher pay, and the other would help build new schools and upgrade security.
"There's no doubt our teachers and our staff deserve this and need this," board member Susan Meek said.
DCSD said a $60 million mill levy override added to the November ballot would help the district provide salaries for teachers that are more competitive with other school districts.
In the 2021-2022 school year, teachers in DCSD made $4,000 to $24,000 less than teachers in surrounding areas, according to the district. School officials said educational assistants are passing on jobs because they can make more money working at fast food restaurants.
If voters approved the mill levy override, the average teacher would receive a 9% increase in pay. Changes would be retroactive to the start of the 2022-23 school year.
School board president Mike Peterson said this measure would provide a significant raise to the largest employer in the county, DCSD.
$15.5 million of the $60 million for compensation would be allocated to charter schools. One board member expressed concerns about the oversight of those funds, and asked if the schools could share their specific plans on how the money will be used.
Several board members also said they've heard from families who worry some of the $60 million will be used for something other than teacher pay, such as arming teachers or school vouchers. Multiple times school officials said they have no intentions of doing that, and they are not allowed to allocate the money to anything other than district-wide compensation to retain staff.
In addition to the teacher pay measure, school board members added a $450 million bond to the November ballot that would help build and expand neighborhood schools and pay for ongoing capital needs.
If residents pass both the mill levy override and bond measures, it would cost each person about $1 a week per $100,000 of home value. That means $5 a week for a $500,000 home.
Voters in Douglas County have only passed bonds twice since 2006. The bond passed by voters in 2018 allowed DCSD to cover maintenance that had been deferred for years. The district said more funding is needed to continue to pay for repairs and construct new schools in a growing neighborhood.
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