Jeffco Public Schools likely to put bond issue on November ballot

Taxpayers in Jefferson County will likely see a bond issue from Jeffco Public Schools on their November ballots after the Jeffco school board formally directed Superintendent Jason Glass and other district officials June 11 to bring a proposed bond package to the board later this summer.

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By Sal Christ
Thursday, June 28, 2018 at 12:16 pm

Notes from tonight's Jeffco School Board Meeting:
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HAPPENING NOW: @JeffcoSchoolsCo special board meeting. Board is set to decide on whether to put a bond and/or mill levy override on the November ballot. Bond ask could be as much as $650MM & mill levy override up to $40MM. #coedu
5:09 PM - 23 Aug 2018

There are 21 people and/or groups signed up for public comment tonight — approximately 90 minutes worth of public comment.

Not a packed room, but a few dozen people are here, including reps from JCAA.

Jon DeStefano, Esther Valdez, Susie Van Scoyk and others — speaking with the JCAA group — say they would support both a bond and mill levy override.

Conifer HS principal Wes Paxton says his school has to "Band-Aid" the building in order to keep kids safe and dry. Says it's a struggle to hire teachers and compete with the pay rates down the hill. #coedu

JCAA ED Jon DeStefano: It's time & we urge you to support Amendment 73, to put a bond issue on the ballot, to put a mill levy on the ballot. … We are losing many quality administrators and teachers b/c the pay is below every other school system pays their people. #jeffcoschools

Individuals are giving public comment now. School safety and mental health supports are a priority. #jeffoschools #coedu

A food service worker named Sherry says she struggles to make ends meet with what Jeffco pays her — her take home income totals $816 a month. She has a second job to help make up the difference.

Pomona HS teacher Dale Munholland is asking the board to support putting both a bond and mill levy override on the ballot; says it's imperative in order to address facility needs. Says teachers' out of pocket spending in the classroom needs to be addressed, as well.

Hannah Bruner, a 5th grade teacher, says she works multiple jobs and lives in government-subsidized housing in order to make ends meet. Is also supporting a bond/mill. "My students deserve better than this. They deserve more than a perpetually exhausted teacher..." #jeffcoschools

Teacher pay and facilities issues are other major priorities, particularly for educators in the district. The teachers who have spoken have been emotional — they love their jobs, but it is financially a struggle.

The board room has filled out a bit with the back rows filled up while front three rows are sparse. A lot of educators expressing support with jazz hands and red clothing for #RedForEd #jeffcoschools

Jonna Levine of @SupportJeffKids says Amendment 73 is a good fix for school funding and is asking board to pass a resolution in support of it.

Amanda Garner, teacher at Mitchell ES, says it took six years and a masters degree to match the pay she earned her first year in a neighboring district. "Jeffco kids deserve better, Jeffco teachers deserve better." #jeffcoschools

Audience tonight includes teachers, administrators, community members, a couple of families, Jeffco Public Schools' lobbyist Ed Bowditch, and @Zenzinger_AtoZ. #jeffcoschools

Bill Bottoms, father of two Evergreen HS grads, says he feels it's crucial to move forward with a mill and a bond, as well as support Amendment 73. Says he moved to Jeffco 35 years ago because the education was second to none, but says district needs $$ to continue that.

Ami Prichard, president of the Jeffco PTA and mother of 3 Jeffco students, says she had $1,800 in fees to pay just to send her kids to their neighborhood schools in Jeffco. #jeffcoschools

TWO board members from the Platte Canyon school district in Bailey have spoken during public comment tonight — Jon DeStefano and now Frank VanDeHey. Both have ties to Jeffco; DeStefano is ED of JCAA and VanDeHey's has kids who live in Lakewood and are poised to start a family.

VanDeHey is asking Jeffco BOE to wait at least a year before putting a bond or mill on the ballot. Says the district needs to allow Amendment 73 to have a chance to pass. #jeffcoschools #coedu

VanDeHey is the first person tonight who has straight up asked the board not to put a bond and/or a mill on the November ballot.

Board took a brief break following public comment. Now resuming. Jeffco BOE will hear about bond and mill options, as well as Amendment 73. #jeffcoschools #coedu

Crowd has thinned out quite a bit.

First up: Resolution to support Amendment 73. Board member Amanda Stevens motioned to support, board member Ali Lasell seconded.

If you aren't familiar with Amendment 73, it was previously known as Ballot Initiative 93 — or the "Great Schools, Thriving Communities" initiative. Calls for increasing income taxes for people whose annual income exceeds $150,000, raising the corporate tax rate by 1.37% & more.

If passed by voters, the amendment could generate $1.6B annually for P-12 education in Colorado and the money would be earmarked only for education. This is a constitutional amendment. Here was our coverage of the measure in March: www.canyoncourier.com/content/proposed-t...llion-p-12-education … #coedu

The citizen-initiated measure was the first to make the November ballot this year. Organizers turned in 179,390 petition signatures, of which 130,002 were accepted as valid. #coedu

Board has unanimously voted in favor of a resolution of support of Amendment 73, much to the satisfaction of many audience members who clapped. #coedu

Next up: Bond presentation from Jeffco COO Steve Bell and Tim Reed, ED of facilities and construction management. Looks like the dollar number is likely going to be $567MM for the bond — a reduction from the $647MM that was suggested earlier this year. #jeffcoschools

Full presentation can be found here: www.boarddocs.com/co/jeffco/Board.nsf/fi...SENTATION%20Bond.pdf …

HISTORY: Jeffco last went for a bond/mill package in 2016. The bond ask at the time was $535MM and was paired with a $33MM mill levy override. Voters rejected both measures with more than 50 percent of voters opposing each measure. www.canyoncourier.com/content/voters-rej...sue-tax-hike-schools …

The proposed bond project is split as follows: $345MM for instruction, safety and security, and efficiency measures. 99 elementary schools, 17 middle schools, 18 high schools, 3 pre-K schools and 20 option schools would be impacted.

$110MM for three replacement schools, additions at seven elementary schools, additions at seven middle schools; $56MM for two new schools in high growth areas — one in NW, one in central Lakewood; $56MM for charters.

Reed says impact to taxpayers would be $1.81/month per $100,000 residential property valuation.

Board member Brad Rupert: "This is not a replay of the ask from two years ago. Two years ago we had a big ask, but the equivalent ask in today's numbers — because of 12% inflation and increased construction costs — is the $647 MM number ..."

Rupert (cont) praises district staff for coming back with a smaller bond amount and listening to voters. Calls the ask modest and says "it's well past overdue." #jeffcoschools

The board has voted in favor of putting a $567MM bond ask on the November ballot. #coedu

Up next: Mill levy override, a.k.a. property tax increase. #jeffcoschools

Jeffco Superintendent @COJasonGlass is presenting the mill levy override proposal to the board. Mill levy override proposal is for $33MM — just as it was in 2016.

Interesting: Proposed mill levy override dollars cannot be used for senior district administration, would be monitored by a citizen oversight committee and would be subject to an annual external audit.

Mill levy override dollars could go toward increased teacher/staff pay, more mental health supports, more school security, expansion of tech education and STEM options, improved class materials, and expansion of early childhood education. #jeffcoschools #coedu

Rupert (responding to concerns that having all of these Qs on the ballot is risky): Having all of these issues on the ballot is a risk, it's a risk that we will appear greedy, it's a risk that voters will think we're giving them and either/or question. ...

Rupert: But this isn't an either/or proposition.

Rupert said the mill levy override will allow the district to compete for educators in the local education marketplace. Says this has to be "an all-hands-on-deck effort."

Lasell: I believe Amendment 73 is the state fix to our funding problem, but if Jeffco is going to compete with other districts, we need this mill levy override.

Harmon: I want to win and I have listened to what we need to do to win. We need a trifecta — we need all three of these things to win. ... If you look at where we are and where we need to be, we need both (the bond and mill).

Mitchell: Our students deserve better and frankly, to our voters, this will take a village.

The Jeffco school board has voted in favor of putting a $33MM mill levy override question on the November ballot — to cheers and applause from the audience. #jeffcoschools

And that's a wrap. I'll have more information and more details about this in next week's issue of the @CanyonCourier.