FAQs

Public school districts, including Douglas County School District, receive the majority of funding from the state and local property taxes, with a small amount from federal sources. Funding for districts is provided first by local sources of revenue (property and ownership taxes). The state covers the rest based on a per-pupil equation called the School Finance Act. The formula starts with a base amount for each district and adds factors that reflect district characteristics and demographics, attempting to make adjustments for equity. 

Colorado allows individual school districts to ask voters to approve funding that goes beyond the state distribution through voter-approved tax revenue funding.

• Bonds can only be used for capital expenditures, such as major repairs, renovations, additions to schools and new schools. Bonds are not included in the district’s general fund and cannot be used for operating costs, such as salaries and benefits.
• Overrides (also known as mill levy overrides, or MLO) are generally used for operating expenses such as salaries and benefits, instructional programs, and classroom technology. Overrides are added to the general fund. However, MLO funds must be used as specifically outlined in ballot language. 

DCSD has 112 buildings. The annual cost of repairs and maintenance is $30-35 million.

A potential $490 million Bond would not increase current property taxes. The school district would restructure its debt in order to keep property taxes from increasing. 

Restructuring school district debt is a lot like when a homeowner refinances their mortgage. In both cases, the overall debt might increase, but the monthly payments stay the same.

Starting in 2025, the school district's debt payments (principal and interest) on five separate voter-approved bonds from past years will go down.  (Unlike a home mortgage, payments on school debt decrease over time.)  The school district's mill rate is set at the appropriate rate to enable the school district to cover that year’s principal and interest payment.  Since the principal and interest payment is decreasing in 2025, the mill rate will decrease from 5 mills to 3 mills unless voters approve new debt for capital improvements and new schools.  

Just a decade ago the bond mill - which is another term for school property tax - was just over 15 mills, meaning that our taxpayers have realized a decrease of 10 mills over those 10 years.  It is a unique opportunity that enables the school district to issue new debt without changing the tax rate.  

However, if this Bond initiative is not approved by voters in 2024, the rate will drop to only 3 mills meaning that any future debt issuances would have to result in a tax rate increase.  
 

If a $490 million Bond is passed by voters, DCSD would build new elementary schools in the following developments: 

• RidgeGate
• Sterling Ranch (near Highlands Ranch)

In addition, DCSD would construct an expansion of the Sierra Middle School (Parker) buildings and add additional programming to the Legacy Campus.

The last time DCSD built a new neighborhood school was in 2010.

On average the school district is able to sell its excess land for $1M-$2M per site, if we sold all available excess land we could raise a maximum of $10M.  To build a school we need $50M-$60M per school, plus an additional $35M per year for yearly maintenance on our other existing buildings, meaning this would not be sufficient to cover more than a very small percentage of the school district’s needs. 

No. Bond money would be used to construct two new neighborhood schools (district-run schools) in RidgeGate and Sterling Ranch. 

View the 2024 Bond Plan.

See how each school would benefit.

The revenue from last year’s voter-approved Mill Levy Override (MLO) is being spent exactly as promised. The school district has already distributed $60 million this year in teacher and staff pay increases (paid retroactively to the beginning of the 2023-2024 school year). Additionally, $6 million has been invested into increased safety and security support for schools, including the hiring of many Campus Security Specialists and School Resource Officers.

Voters are seeing a return on their investment as we are seeing much-improved staff hiring and retention rates compared to before the MLO was passed. 
 

Mill Levy Overrides

Mill Levy Overrides (MLOs) can be used for ongoing operating expenses such as salaries and benefits, instructional programming and technology.  

Bonds

Bonds can only be used for capital needs such as major repairs/renovations, construction of new schools or expansions to existing schools, vehicles (including school buses), and infrastructure. The State of Colorado provides no funding for capital construction needs whether that be construction of new schools or capital investments in existing schools. 

Yes, the following local governments/organizations have endorsed the Bond initiative. 

• City of Lone Tree
• Douglas County School District Long Range Planning Committee

To our knowledge, no local government or organization has formally opposed this Bond initiative.

The Douglas County School District has the lowest general administration costs in the Denver/Metro area.

Per the Colorado Department of Education, Douglas County School District's General Administration Spending Per Student is $63 vs. $149 in Littleton Public Schools and $189 in Denver Public Schools. 

The school district's Facility Rental Office was developed in 1995 and currently services over 100 types of community organizations (Homeowners Associations, Government Agencies, Scouts, Enrichments, Cultural Groups, Sports Organizations, voting/election process, etc.). On average the rental office receives over 500 facility rental requests per year and manages 35-80 approved requests/events per day for a total of over 47,000 rental hours last year.  The school district charges a small hourly fee to cover general wear and tear on the building/field and generates $1M-$1.5M per year in revenue that is invested right back into our schools for minor capital projects. 
 

School districts do not get a percentage of marijuana sales tax for district operational costs.

Marijuana is taxed in three ways:

1. Medical and recreational marijuana are both subject to the 2.9% state sales tax.
2. Recreational marijuana is subject to an additional 10% special sales tax (retail sales).
3. A 15% excise tax is paid when a recreational marijuana wholesaler transfers a shipment to a retailer.

So, where does that money go?

1. All of the state sales tax on medical and recreational marijuana and 85% of the special sales tax on recreational marijuana goes into the Marijuana Tax Cash Fund to pay for the corresponding costs of the legalization of marijuana such as health education, substance abuse prevention and treatment programs, and law enforcement and health care.
   • Schools can apply for a small portion of the money in the Marijuana Tax Cash Fund for school health professionals.
2. The remaining 15% of the special sales tax is allocated to local governments based on the marijuana sales within their boundaries (i.e. for parks and rec, libraries, etc.).
3. The first $40 million that is collected from the excise tax goes to a statewide grant fund called the BEST Program (Building Excellent Schools Today).
   • This money can only be used to support school construction or repairs.
   • Money is prioritized based on need with most being granted to lower funded rural school districts.
   • Once $40 million has been reached, any additional money collected from the excise tax can be allocated elsewhere by state legislators.

No….local monies that are approved by voters in the form of an MLO/Bond are a separate “bucket” of money above and beyond Per-Pupil Revenue. These monies are not considered when the state is determining the amount of Per-Pupil Revenue a district will receive. 

Like other school districts across Colorado, the Douglas County School District received Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding during the COVID-19 pandemic. This one-time funding was restricted in how it could be utilized and will expire by September 30, 2024.

ESSER funds could be used as follows:

ESSER I - Addressing the Immediate Crisis 

ESSER I funds were provided to school districts to help ensure that students continued to have access to important services during remote learning, and to help reopen schools by making learning environments as safe as possible and to slow transmission of COVID. Many dollars were used on COVID mitigation supplies such as hand washing and sanitizing stations, HVAC ventilation systems, cleaning and disinfecting supplies and services, masks and gloves, etc. These funds were also utilized to continue to provide students access to meals, nursing services, etc. 

ESSER II - Providing Stability and Managing the Health Crisis

ESSER II funds were provided to school districts to help address learning time that was interrupted during remote learning. This included software, staff time, and other resources related to providing extended learning opportunities to students such as summer learning programs to help students overcome any learning loss that may have occurred during COVID-related closures. ESSER II funds also helped cover staff costs associated with contact tracing, quarantines, Personal Protective Equipment and other ongoing mitigation factors required via public health orders. 

ESSER III - Recovery and Acceleration

ESSER III funds were provided to school districts with a requirement that at least 20% of the allocated funds be set aside for interventions to address the academic impact of lost instructional time. These interventions must be evidence-based and designed to respond to students' social, emotional, and academic needs with a specific focus on students who have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic (including students from low-income families, students of color, English learners, children with disabilities, students experiencing homelessness, children and youth in foster care, and migratory students). Click here to see DCSD's plan for the use of ESSER III funds. 

No Bond dollars would be used to arm our teachers. DCSD has incredible relationships with its local law enforcement partners (Castle Rock Police Department, Douglas County Sheriff's Office, Lone Tree Police Department, and Parker Police Department). Board members have not expressed any interest in, or intent to arm teachers in DCSD schools. 

No Bond dollars would be used to implement a voucher program in DCSD. Board members have not expressed any interest in or intent to implement vouchers in DCSD.