Tie school ballot issues to performance | Jimmy Sengenberger

Over 20 Colorado school districts want voters to approve tax and bond measures.

Who wouldnt want to give schools more resources? But as students struggle academically, three districts reveal a lesson voters cant ignore.

Colorados General Assembly sets annual program funding.

Property taxes fill the bucket first; the state covers the rest.

As property taxes rise, the states contribution drops.

Voters can bypass the cap with a mill levy override (MLO) a property tax increase.

Bonds cover capital needs like new schools or maintenance.

Both require voter approval.

This year in Douglas County, voters face a new bond proposal.

No new public schools have been built there since 2010, despite rapid growth in some areas.

While Highlands Ranch has 18 elementary schools for 38,000 homes, Sterling Ranch, with 18,000 planned, has none depriving parents of neighborhood school choice.

You have to have a school where the kids are, Superintendent Erin Kane told me.

I wish I could put a school on a trailer and move it to Sterling Ranch, but I cant.

She explained the status quo may require assigning Sterling Ranch kids to three different schools 45 minutes away.

DougCos Ballot Issue 5A seeks $490 million for two new elementary schools, safety upgrades, technical education and a $300 million backlog in building maintenance.

If approved, it wont raise taxes.

If it fails, there will be a slight property tax reduction but given the formula, it may be their last chance to pass a bond without a tax hike, impacting future bonds for The Canyons and Crystal Valley, which lack neighborhood schools.

If voters are going to pass a bond, now is the time.

The districts results justify it: The percentage of students proficient in English and math have jumped by nearly 6% each to 62.3% and 52.3%, respectively.

Were one of the only school districts in the entire country where our achievement and growth in every single grade and every single subject exceeds our 2019 scores, pre-pandemic, Kane added.

In contrast, Cherry Creek Schools are a shadow of their former self.

The district clings to an antiquated reputation of excellence, yet its student achievement remains mired 2.5% below pre-pandemic levels, at 48.3% proficient in English and 40.8% in math.

Meanwhile, as Ive reported, Cherry Creek Schools expelled four Black students at Eaglecrest High for defending themselves against adult men after a basketball game.

But a Cherry Creek High football star was only suspended from one game after sexually assaulting a female student during school hours, despite pleading guilty just one example of the districts failure to address sexual assault and harassment among students.

The first case splashed onto headlines; the other, swept under the rug.

Cherry Creek Schools priorities are skewed: ignoring serious misconduct while excessively punishing others.

Yet, theyre asking voters to approve a $9 million mill-levy increase and a $950 million bond.

Why should voters funnel more money into a system that fails to protect its students and shows misplaced priorities? Denver Public Schools are a similar mess.

After 16-year-old Luis Garcia was shot and killed outside East High in February 2023, and two deans were shot inside East High by a 17-year-old that March, parents had to push hard for reinstating school resource officers.

It took tragedies and public outcry to reverse the school boards 2020 decision to remove officers, which Garcias family claims led to his death.

Superintendent Alex Marrero dragged his feet on fixing the discipline matrix, another major factor behind campus violence.

When revisions finally rolled out in August, the guidelines still left disruptive students largely unchecked.

Its a slap in the face, one DPS teacher told me.

Now, DPS asks for a $975 million bond with merely 3% for school safety.

In May, a high-powered law firm threatened the Parent-Safety Advocacy Group for using a trademarked school logo.

By August, DPS had spent over $11,000 on legal fees over logos.

Meanwhile, they blew nearly $97,000 relocating and soundproofing Marreros office with leftover bond money from 2016.

Priorities, Alex? Lets be clear: DPS hasnt just failed on safety; theyve wasted taxpayer dollars while students remain in academic abyss.

With 59.3% of students not proficient in English and 68.8% behind in math, Colorados largest school districts performance is dismal.

A 2.5-point bump in the four-year graduation rate for 2023 to a record 79% cant hide the fact that most students arent ready for college or the real world.

Yet DPS wants a billion-dollar bond? As the Common Sense Institute reports, achievement gaps and low proficiency rates persist statewide amid enrollment declines, surging administrative and non-teacher hirings and yes considerable revenue increases.

Before we ask the community to shoulder more financial burdens, districts must demonstrate fiscal responsibility, said Lori Gimelsteyn with the Colorado Parent Advocacy Network.

Its time we stop funding failure and start holding our schools accountable for providing the quality education our children deserve.

The stark contrast between Douglas Countys success and Woodland Parks, which I covered Tuesday and the failures of Cherry Creek and Denver provides vital insights into which funding measures deserve approval.

With each request, voters should critically evaluate academic performance, accountability and safety measures a grading rubric for approving tax and bond dollars.

Every Colorado school district shuttered schools during the pandemic, crippling students academically with lasting consequences.

Few have surpassed pre-pandemic outcomes.

Their pleas for more money demand skepticism, and voters must insist on meaningful improvements and firm commitments to success.

Feel-good funding wont cut it.

Jimmy Sengenberger is an investigative journalist, public speaker, and longtime local talk-radio host.

Reach Jimmy online at Jimmysengenberger.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @SengCenter..

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