Resident generated news about Lakewood, Colorado
Resident generated news about Lakewood, Colorado
Jeffco Schools Presents Mill Levy Increase to City Council
Lakewood and the Jefferson County School District are once again demonstrating how to exploit loopholes to unofficially campaign for a ballot issue.
The Jeffco School District Superintendent received time on the Lakewood City Council agenda to give a presentation that included why Jeffco Schools will need to increase revenue, probably as a mill levy override. The school district currently has a $60 million deficit. There were no other points of view presented, just the school district saying they’d need more money.
Presenting one side of a ballot issue is generally viewed as campaigning or advocacy. However, despite all appearances, this does not count as campaigning because Jeffco Schools will not formally put this issue on the ballot until August. After that, it will be illegal to use government funds to campaign.
In stark contrast, opposition voices will not have much time to rally after the official decision in August. Since the school district has been unofficially campaigning in favor of more revenue for over a year, the time lag is a big disadvantage to any other voices.
Likewise, people with alternatives for the school district will never be given time on the agenda to speak.
The Jeffco Schools presentation did not pertain to city business. Jeffco Schools did not make a similar presentation on school closures before or after they happened, which has been devastating to neighborhoods throughout Lakewood.
Why is Revenue Needed
Alternative points of view have been voiced at meetings and social media, although much of this does not make it into district materials.
For example, a report by Jamie Perkins shows that, “In just the last 5 years, teacher count has dropped by 344, but admin personnel has gone up by 49. And in the last 10 years, the general administration category of the budget has more than doubled.”
Perkins breaks down expenses in easy-to-read graphs that are available for voters to review.
Alternative Solutions
There have also been many solutions offered by the public that fail to make it into any official, neutral pro/con list. One alternative solution was offered by the site Somebody Should Do Something which said the following:
“If, say, you actually targeted Communications, HR, and Strategy specifically, you could likely hit a 15% reduction (roughly $9 million) without touching a single principal or counselor.
- “Communications: By cutting the PR team, social media managers, and “community engagement” staff, you save on salaries and expensive “brand” consulting fees.
- “Strategy/Innovation: These offices often manage “long-term initiatives” that many see as red tape. Cutting them stops the “initiative fatigue” teachers often complain about.
- “HR: While you need someone to process payroll and health insurance, you can cut the “recruitment marketing” and “talent development” layers.”
Losing Money on Municipalities
Lakewood benefited from Jeffco Schools money mismanagement when Lakewood bought Emory Elementary School at a drastically discounted price. Jeffco Schools have now engaged with other cities to go through the same municipal process with no guarantee they will make any more money than they did with Emory.
Note: Lakewood also lost money giving the school away and is now asking for a sales tax increase for further spending.
Closing schools and moving students around has cost tens of millions of dollars so far. As reported from Chalkbeat, “There is another side to the closure costs. While the district saved roughly $12 million in annual operating expenses by shutting the schools down, they had to spend significantly more to prepare the receiving (“welcoming”) schools to handle the influx of 2,600 displaced students. The district initially budgeted $32 million for these transitions, but an open records request later revealed that Jeffco spent $45.3 million across 22 welcoming schools.”
No Oversight
Previous reporting by Suzie Glassman exposed that Jeffco schools previously lost track of their promise for accountability when they got a tax increase in 2018. As discussed, there is no ballot language yet, but even if there were guarantees on the ballot for increased revenue to the school, this history shows Jeffco Schools are unreliable on oversight.
The official campaign for a mill levy override will start after it gets put on the ballot. Until then, this campaign loophole will allow government advocacy. In the meantime, Lakewood City Council has sent a clear message as to which way they lean by allowing the district time on the agenda.