DPS Board Approves Bond & Mill Levy On November Ballot Totaling $827 Million
DENVER (CBS4) - Denver voters will decide this fall whether to provide $827 million in additional funding to Denver Public Schools through bond and mill levy proposals. The DPS Board of Education voted unanimously on Thursday to add the proposals to the November ballot.
In June, a committee of 75 community members, teachers, parents and students presented their funding recommendations to the DPS Board of Education. The committee worked for five months to determine investment priorities for the district.
The bond measure before voters would provide $795 million to build and maintain schools in the district. The second request, a "Debt Free Schools" ballot initiative, would invest $32 million for mental health, nursing, special education and compensation.
The Debt Free Schools mill levy would provide $15 million for DPS employees, increasing the minimum wage to $14.77 per hour with cost of living increases for teachers. DPS would allocate $3 million for counselor and psychologist services and $4 million to nursing services, with the goal of hiring more full-time nurses.
In addition, the mill levy would invest $2 million in special education services. The district hopes to hire more paraprofessionals and speech language pathologists.
The bond measure proposed by DPS would allocate $208 million to update and maintain existing facilities. The district would spend $128.5 million on air conditioning in 24 school buildings.
Officials also designated $130 million for the rebuild or remodeling of the former Montbello High School.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, DPS would devote $65 million to increase school safety measures and expand access to Chromebooks and at-home internet for remote learning.
In order to address ongoing capacity needs, DPS would allocate an additional $65 million to new schools in growing parts of Denver. The remaining $31.7 million from the bond measure would be distributed to 135 buildings serving 74,000 students for flexible spending to improve classrooms, cafeterias, playgrounds, libraries and gyms.
For more information about the bond and mill levy, visit the DPS website.
