By now, most Colorado voters have received their ballots in the mail. Some have already dropped them off at voting centers.
For Cherry Creek Schools voters still grappling over their ballot, the district has plenty of material on its for those looking to do some extra homework on the two bond issue questions the district has put before them this year. ask district residents to approve a $23.9 million mill levy override to begin in 2017 and for a $250 million bond issue, respectively.
The bond issue, which would result in an estimated repayment cost of $460 million, would finance construction of a new middle school and elementary school, a career and innovation academy open to all district students, safety, technology and equipment upgrades at existing schools, and pay for other needs district officials deem essential to future success as outlined in its vision process.
The override is largely a reaction to decreased funding from the state, officials say, a common theme among many Colorado districts that have chosen to seek help from voters . Cherry Creek, a district of nearly 55,000 students with 29 percent receiving free or reduced-priced lunch, is a facing a budget shortfall of more than $20 million for the 2017-18 school year. Chief financial officer Guy Bellville estimates that since 2008, the state has withheld more than $306 million from the district. The money the override would generate would go to operational costs, maintaining class sizes, recruiting and retaining quality teachers and maintaining high-quality instruction, officials say.
“If you’re a family and you want your kids to get the best education, you’re going to come to Cherry Creek School District,” , a district board member and chairwoman of the pro-3A and 3B committee . She thinks the two measures will help maintain the district’s reputation into the future.
“Itap all about student success,” she said.
Fisher has two kids at Cherry Creek High School and four who previously graduated from the district. She noted that the district has been judicious in how it handles debt, and the two measures combined is estimated to cost the owners of a $350,000 home in the district just $8 per month.
The eastern side of the district is in desperate need of a new middle school and elementary school to accommodate continued growth, Fisher said. And the other big projects the district has outlined as targets for bond issue money — such as a career and innovation academy open to all 11th and 12th graders in the district — will provide important opportunities for kids to graduate with skills that make them career ready, she added.
“Whatap neat about this for our voters is for the first time we’re really giving them a chance to say ‘yes’ to programming,” Fisher said, noting the district has provided an outline of how the bond money would be .
in Aurora is one of two district schools that hosts a culinary program with a curriculum designed by the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation. Teacher Christina Runyon said seven of the 26 students in her class this semester come from other district schools. Students who complete the two-year program learn about restaurant management, food preparation and earn an-industry recognized kitchen safety certification, Runyon said.
“We want them to be industry ready,” Runyon said. “Itap a little bit easier for them to find jobs right out of school.”
Tajianne Kaiser, a senior at Smoky Hill in her second year of ProStart, said that a project that challenged students to come up with their own restaurant concept was an eye-opening lesson for her.
“I’m still in the process of figuring out what I’m going to do but restaurant management is what I’m most interested in,” she said. “(This class) teachers you how you can start these things.”
If the bond measure were to pass, the future district wide career and education academy would welcome students from all over the district to a state-of-the-art facility including kitchen and other hospitality industry facilities, according to the district.
No formal citizen committee has been formed in opposition to the two ballot measures.