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Budget Cuts of $3.3 million and More To Come...
Our Kids, Our Schools, and Our Community Need Your Support This November!
Over the last two years alone, our school district has been forced to cut $3.3 million dollars ($1.6 million in 2010 and $1.7 million this year) from the budget. These cuts are financially hurting our local families, our kids, and our schools.
Parents are paying the price:
- Paying bus transportation fees;
- Paying more for school curriculum and athletic/activity fees;
Students are paying the price:
- Losing school programs such as foreign language, industrial technology, and automotive technology;
- Experiencing larger class sizes;
- at risk of losing the 21st century tools, materials and textbooks they need to compete.
Our Teachers have been helping by paying the price:
- Teachers are paying more towards their benefits,
- Teacher salaries have been frozen for 3 years,
- Woodland Park teacher salaries are the lowest in region,
- Woodland Park per diem pay is lowest in region.
The District has already been forced to:
- Defer necessary facility maintenance and repairs (leaking roofs, deferred building maintenance);
- Lay off or eliminate staff positions (including administration, teachers, etc.)
- Freeze staff salaries,
- Increase employee payments towards their benefits,
- Encourage senior teachers to retire early.
The current and future predicted decreases in state funding means even more potential cuts for our kids in the near future.
The Board of Education has decided the best way to offset the state funding cuts is to ask the voters November 1, 2011 for a mill levy increase. The increase will help fund the necessary improvements our schools need and to keep the level of quality we expect in our schools. The District has created the following list for action if the ballot issue passes:
✓ Not increase curriculum fees and athletic/activity fees for the students
✓ Repair/replace leaking boilers and water heater
✓ Address significant roof maintenance (due to leaks, using buckets has become necessary in two schools)
✓ Reinstate preventative maintenance throughout all schools
✓ Rehire some teaching and direct classroom support staff to keep average class sizes manageable
✓ Reinstate a schedule of updating classroom materials, textbooks and Technology to meet our students’ 21st century learning needs
✓ Restore previously cut programming, including middle school foreign language
✓ Maintain current level of bus service available to our students
Please VOTE YES for this desperately needed funding! Let’s continue to provide the highest level of quality education for our kids. Sign up for our email newsletter to receive new updates and information!
In order to protect our quality of education and the quality of life in Teller County, we need your support. Our local schools and the quality education we provide directly affect our community, our home values, and the future of Teller County. The ballot question asks for a $950,000 increase in property taxes for 2012 through an additional fixed 3.8 mill levy increase over our current mill levy amount. This amount will equate to approximately $2.50 per month for every $100,000 of home value. If voters approve, our school mill levy will be increased from 34.187 to 37.987 annually.
Our School Taxes Will STILL Remain The Lowest!
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School District |
Current Mill Levy Rate |
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