Denver voters in November will decide separately on two DPS ballot questions: a $572 million bond and a $56.6 million mill levy override to raise a total of $628.8 million. The bond question will not raise current taxes—it will maintain the current mill levy for bond payments. The mill levy override will increase annual taxes. On a $330,000 home taxes will increase about $110/year.

Seventy-five parents, community members, students and teachers met about ten times between February and May to learn about and prioritize the needs in DPS schools and recommend what projects should be in the bond. The Front Porch asked one of these committee members what he learned and what he would want voters to know about these ballot questions.

How did the prioritization process work?

Chet Seward, the Stapleton father of a 7th grader and a 10th grader who works in health care policy, called this a thoughtful and thorough process. The participants divided into subcommittees: one for the mill levy override (primarily programming) and three for the bond, which included new construction and renovation, maintenance, and technology.

Seward served on the capacity committee. As a resident of NE Denver, the fastest growing part of town, Seward already understood the capacity issues here. But after listening to presentations and studying the data he observed, “There are lots of needs elsewhere. And prioritizing them was really hard.” But, he says, it was encouraging that the committee had really thoughtful dialogue—passionate but not shrill. “It was heartening given the politics of the day.”

Seward says they used a rubric that kept them focused. They plotted projects on maps to ensure they were being equitable around the city. And they watched “the line”—the number of bond programs they could recommend under the existing bond mill levy and not increase taxes.

Why vote for the bond and mill levy override?

Seward explained what he would want skeptics to know about these upcoming ballot questions.

Lots of new businesses are coming here and the city is growing. To be sure this isn’t just a blip, we need to have a really good K-12 system in place.

Colorado is 42nd in the nation in per pupil funding, spending $2,060 less per student than the national average. The state financing system is not keeping up so bond and mill levy override funds are necessary.

The committee was cognizant of their responsibility to taxpayers to prioritize in a way that would meet the greatest needs but maintain the bond mill levy at its present level.

$44.4 million in capacity and renovation projects are proposed for NE Denver. What are they and why were they selected?

$22.40M   Sandoval Campus
new 500-seat classroom bldg

$ 6.66M   George Washington HS
renovation of aging facilities

$ 5.40M   Montclair Elementary
100 new seats

$ 4.40M   Conservatory Green Campus
100 new seats

$ 2.90M   Denver Language School
100 new seats

$ 2.64M   Hill Middle School
renovation of aging facilities

NE Denver capacity/renovation = $44.40M

Seward explains the rationale for some of these projects:

With the huge growth in NE Denver, capacity simply doesn’t exist at the high school level so an additional building at the Sandoval campus (one of the largest single expenditures on the bond) is necessary. GW and East won’t be able to accommodate the numbers that are coming and kids have to go to school.

The inclusion of Denver Language School is a good example of how the process was used to prioritize requests from 58 schools. As a K-12 school, with proven demand and currently split campus that forces K-2 students to go to one building and everyone else to go to another three miles away, it was clear that an investment is necessary.

Hill Middle School, originally built when President Eisenhower was in office, ranked high because the building is in serious need of upgrades in order to bring the learning environment into the 21st century.

How do bond and mill levy projects differ?

Bond projects are capital improvements in the areas of construction/renovation, maintenance and technology.

The mill levy override is primarily used for programming. Voters must approve a 4.2 mill increase to implement the following programs:

$ 6.80M Early literacy (training teachers
and support for struggling readers)

$15.00M Whole student needs (psychologists,
social workers, nurses, partner programs
to be determined by the schools)

$ 6.60M Classroom technology (replace
outdated devices, increase students
with devices, build eBook library)

$ 8.07M College & career readiness
opportunities (students to leave DPS
prepared for career opportunities in
growing Denver industries)

$14.50M Attract, develop & retain high
quality teachers & leaders

$ 4.88M Cleaner and more comfortable
learning environments

$ 400K Increased transportation for
high school students

$ 480K Bond investments that require
coordinated mill investments

Total mill levy override $56.6M

How do Denver’s bond and mill levy override rates compare to other metro Denver school districts?

Mill levy overrides in 12 Colorado districts range from 6.0 to 19.89. Denver’s FY15-16 mill levy is 10.98.

Bond mill levies in 12 Colorado districts range from 6.75 to 21.67. Denver’s FY15-16 is 10.25.

Click here to download the bond recommendation packet that was presented to the DPS Board of Education.