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Denver voters will be asked in November to approve a $44 million tax increase to benefit the city’s public schools. If passed, every Denver Public Schools employee would get a $1,750 raise.
The money would also be used to offer more career and technical education classes to students and expand mental health and special education services.
The Denver school board voted unanimously Thursday to put the measure on the Nov. 3 ballot.
The measure would increase property taxes by about $72 per year for a Denver home valued at $624,800, the median home price in the city, according to the school district.
Denver Public Schools is the state’s largest school district, with about 89,000 students and a $1.5 billion budget. But it’s facing serious funding pressures, including from declining enrollment. Because Colorado schools are funded per student, fewer kids means fewer dollars.
The rising costs of employee health insurance and utilities are also causing financial strain for the district, and an increase in the number of students needing special education services means DPS is spending more to support them, officials said.
The $44 million tax increase would be split like this:
- $25.8 million for employee raises. Each full-time DPS employee would get a $1,750 raise, while part-time employees would get a prorated amount. The flat $1,750 would mean lower paid employees would get a larger percentage raise than higher paid ones.
- $4 million for career and technical education. Denver voters passed a bond in 2024 that included $51 million to build career and technical education classrooms. The $4 million would pay for programming, equipment, and transportation for those classes.
- $2.9 million to expand student mental health support.
- $2 million for special education services.
- $9.3 million for the district’s charter schools. State law requires that school districts share mill levy override revenue with district charter schools, which are publicly funded but independently run by nonprofit organizations.
Thursday’s vote comes as tension between the superintendent and the elected school board has sparked some community concern about the district’s leadership. But Denver voters have a long track record of approving school tax increases regardless of any political strife.
The type of tax increase that will appear on the November ballot is called a mill levy override. It can only be spent on educational programming. A bond measure, like the one passed in 2024, is used to build new schools or renovate existing ones.
Denver voters last passed a mill levy override in 2020 for $32 million. Similar to the current proposal, that funding was earmarked for staff salaries, special education services, and mental health support, plus hiring more school nurses.
Teachers and students implored the board Thursday to support the $44 million override. Joshua Cardenas, a soon-to-be sophomore at Abraham Lincoln High School, said he wished his school had done more to help him after his grandfather died. He stressed that students need more mental health support than an “I’m sorry.”
“When students have the support they need, they have a better chance to learn, participate, and thrive,” Cardenas told the board.
Amber Wilson, a veteran English teacher at Thomas Jefferson High School, said she helped welcome hundreds of new teachers to the district earlier this week. Offering competitive salaries is key to ensuring those teachers stay for years to come, she said.
“DPS can recruit talented educators,” Wilson said. “The problem is retaining them.”
District data shows nearly 91% of Denver teachers union members stayed in DPS last school year. That’s up from nearly 85% in the 2017-18 school year, the data shows.
Melanie Asmar is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Colorado. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org.
