The number of students in Douglas County schools has rocketed from 13,198 in 1990 to 49,449 this fall. In 2011, enrollment is expected to hit 61,500.
Without additional investments from county taxpayers, it’s hardly a stretch to joke that students will be stacked on top of one another like logs.
Districts across Colorado are grappling with varying degrees of growth and overcrowding, while fretting over aging school buildings that fail to meet modern demands and often are safety hazards.
To help remedy that, 14 school districts across the state are asking voters for $1.13 billion in construction bond requests.
Coloradans have a solid record of approving school bond requests, approving 65 percent of the issues before them since 1993.
We urge voters in these districts to weigh the Nov. 7 requests seriously, especially knowing that districts generally won’t go to the voters until their needs mount up. A failed bond issue or mill-levy override can be a serious setback for local districts.
The statewide price tag is staggering. This is only the second time the total of all requests has exceeded $1 billion. (The first time was in 2004.) As in 2004, higher construction costs and a growing backlog of deferred maintenance are the culprits.
Among the larger proposals:
- Adams County School District 27J in Brighton, now the fastest-growing district in the state, seeks $89 million to build two elementary schools, two middle schools and make improvements on existing schools.
- Adams County 50 in Westminster is asking for $98.6 million for two new schools and to upgrade others, whose average age is 49 years.
- Douglas County schools are seeking $200 million to build six elementary schools, a middle school, a childhood education center and a sports stadium, as well as renovations of eight schools.
Tax hikes for schools are divided into bond issues and mill-levy overrides, both of which are paid by property taxes. Bond money can only be used for construction costs, such as building new schools or rewiring classrooms. Mill-levy money is used for operational expenses, such as hiring more teachers or increasing employee salaries.
Twenty districts are seeking mill-levy overrides totalling $24.6 million, including $5 million in Douglas County and $4.15 million for Thompson R-2J schools in Larimer County. Homeowners in Douglas won’t see an increase in their property taxes even if the mill levy is increased, since the county-assessed valuation also has gone up.
Colorado voters helped free up money for higher education last year with the passage of Referendum C. We hope they give serious thought to their local K-12 districts this year.
