Overview
- The Jefferson County Board of Education voted unanimously Thursday to place two mill-levy overrides totaling $133 million on the Nov. 3 ballot.
- The package is split into Measure 5A, a $73 million general override for teacher, principal and support-staff pay plus career and technical education, and Measure 5B, a $60 million special-purpose mill for building repairs, technology replacement and school security.
- If approved, the district estimates the measures would raise about $42 a year per $100,000 of home value, which would be about $273 a year for a $650,000 home.
- District leaders say recent cuts of roughly $40–43 million and falling enrollment make more closures, layoffs or salary freezes likely if voters reject the levies, while public comment at the board meeting was mostly supportive and organized opposition has vowed to campaign against the measures.
- The levies are unfolding alongside a federal Title IX dispute— the U.S. Office for Civil Rights found Jeffco policies on transgender students violate Title IX and the district has sued for clarification— and the district plans a citizens oversight committee and a public spending dashboard as the campaign begins.