GOLDEN — Jefferson County voters will be asked to approve a $350 million bond issue for school construction and improvements and a mill-levy override to produce $32 million for operations.
On Thursday, the Jefferson County Board of Education approved putting both questions on the Nov. 4 ballot.
“We wouldn’t be doing this if we were adequately funded by the state,” said board president Scott Benefield.
Leslie Dahlkemper, co-chairwoman of the Citizens for Jeffco Schools promoting measures 3A and 3B, agreed.
“It’s not just the skyrocketing cost-of-living causing the problem,” Dahlkemper said. “Most of the state revenue available to schools is fixed, while the cost of education continues to rise.”
The bond issue would not increase a property owner’s taxes since the state’s largest school district is retiring older debt, district officials say.
The mill-levy override would require a property owner to pay about $3 per month for every $100,000 of a home’s assessed value.
Without the override, district officials say they will make $32 million in cuts over three years beginning in 2009.
The bond will upgrade building security and classroom technology in elementary schools. Two elementaries would be built — one in the Rooney Valley and the other in Arvada’s Candelas area.
Additions to Evergreen and Oberon middle schools would consume two-thirds of the $33.1 million budgeted for middle school projects.
About $35 million in work on Alameda High School leads the $108.1 million in improvements to the district’s high schools. About $3 million would be used to buy a site for a new northwest-area high school.
The mill levy override would go toward teachers’ pay, limiting classroom size and covering the cost of raising graduation requirements from 22 credits to 24.
If the mill levy is approved, an agreement with the teachers’ union calls for a .5 percent pay hike on top of the 2.7 percent raise effective Sept. 1.
Jeffco residents approved a $323.8 million bond issue and a $38.5 million mill-levy override in 2004.
School board member Jane Barnes said she is frustrated by the school financing system, “so we have to continually go back to the people with these questions.”
Other districts also have measures on the November ballot. The Douglas County School District seeks approval of a $395 million bond issue and $17 million for programs. The Aurora Public Schools is asking for a $215 million bond issue and a $14.7 million mill-levy override.
Denver will decide on Sept. 2 whether to seek a $453.5 million bond issue.
Ann Schrader: 303-278-3217 or aschrader@denverpost.com.
