$80 million<\/a>, respectively, and Hanover District 28 will present a mill-levy override (MLO) that would increase staff compensation.<\/p>\n\n Recommended Stories
\n \u25b6\n <\/p>\n
Bonds are voter-approved financing for school capital projects, while MLOs cover other operations.<\/p>\n
D-11 has pulled off major feats recently, like renovating Palmer High School and Jenkins Middle School, but funding for all 61 campuses isn\u2019t currently available, said Superintendent Michael Gaal.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd so, as we think of ourselves as the original school district of Colorado Springs \u2026 it\u2019s time for us to make sure that we can recapitalize these schools; not just for the current set of students and families, but for the next generation,\u201d he said at a public discussion on May 7, 2025.<\/p>\n
Needs were determined through a multiyear process of gathering public feedback. Schools would add air conditioning, security upgrades and renovated education spaces, if the bond were to pass. Current funding could then increase teacher salaries.<\/p>\n
Property tax increases would average $264 annually.<\/p>\n
In D-12, its bond would make similar investments across its seven schools. One elementary school would be rebuilt, the high school would add an athletic field and all would upgrade roofing, electrical, HVAC and security systems. \u00a0<\/p>\n
The bond intends to equip the schools, some over 70 years old, for sustained operations, D-12 Superintendent David Peak told The Gazette. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOverall, the focus is less about adding student capacity and more about improving the quality, functionality, safety and long-term usefulness of our learning environments for students,\u201d he said in an email.<\/p>\n
District taxes would increase annually by $8.8 million. The property tax rate would remain at 55 mills.<\/p>\n
For the county\u2019s southernmost district, D-28\u2019s MLO would generate about $232,000 in funding in the first year, with future amounts determined by four permanent mills, if passed. The funds would only go toward salaries and benefits.<\/p>\n
Superintendent Mark McPherson told The Gazette that his district is the lowest paying in the region.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve felt the effect directly: We\u2019re losing good teachers and support staff to districts that can simply pay more for the same job, and we\u2019re finding it harder to recruit replacements \u2014 especially in hard-to-fill areas,\u201d he wrote in an email.<\/p>\n
The estimated cost to a $300,000 home in the district is about $6.67 per month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Some of El Paso County\u2019s oldest schools could see facelifts and their educators could get raises in coming…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":464889,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[158373,60366,158374,158375,105479,138,1060,140,139,158376,158377,158378,158379],"class_list":["post-464888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-el-paso","tag-2026-general-election","tag-2026-voter-guide","tag-bond-measure","tag-cheyenne-mountain-district-12","tag-colorado-springs-district-11","tag-el-paso","tag-el-paso-county","tag-el-paso-headlines","tag-el-paso-news","tag-hanover-district-28","tag-mill-levy-override","tag-school-infrastructure","tag-teacher-and-staff-pay"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=464888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464888\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/464889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=464888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=464888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=464888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}