The Douglas County School District Board of Education (BOE) has authorized Mill Levy Override (MLO) and Bond questions for the 2023 ballot. At the August 8 meeting, the BOE unanimously voted 7-0 to place before voters a $66 million MLO and a $484 million Bond.
If the MLO and Bond are approved by voters, Douglas County homeowners will pay $20 per year per $100,000 of home value. For example, a Douglas County resident with a home valued at $1,000,000 would pay approximately an additional $200 per year if both measures are approved.
“The future of Douglas County is literally sitting in the classrooms today. You may have heard that the Douglas County School District is the engine that drives our county. Help us supercharge that engine,” said DCSD Board of Education President Mike Peterson. “We are moving from our funding needs being in an urgent state last year, to a critical state this year.”
The MLO resolution approved by the Board of Education outlines the specific salary increases the different employee groups would receive if the MLO is approved by voters.
Currently, DCSD teachers are paid $15,000-$20,000 less than neighboring school districts.
MLO dollars would also be used to increase and maintain school security support, such as School Resource Officers (SROs).
A $66 million MLO would enable DCSD to provide pay that is more competitive with other school districts to recruit and retain teachers and staff.
Several people participated in Public Comment at the August 8 Board of Education meeting.
“We heard from seniors, we heard from business leaders, we heard from teachers, we heard from principals, we heard from students. For me, I was ready to vote after the students,” said Board of Education Director David Ray. “I wrote [one student's] quote down: ‘Funding matters when it comes to a quality education.’ If we don’t respond to that, I don’t know what it will take us to be able to say we have to make sure this happens.”
The BOE also authorized a $484 million bond for the 2023 ballot. A $484 million Bond would be used for school safety and security upgrades; trade, career and technical education opportunities for students; and updating, maintaining, and constructing educational facilities consistent with the district bond plan; and to reduce overcrowding.
If the Bond is approved by voters, see what each of DCSD's existing schools would receive at funding.dcsdk12.org/mlo-bond/how-each-school-benefits.
Read more about DCSD’s funding challenges at funding.dcsdk12.org.
