The Durango District 9-R school board still hasn’t heard from enough of its families and community members about the potential ballot success of a mill levy override that it may put before voters in November. So, it’s reaching out with a survey that can be taken in paper form or online.
“We just got back the internal surveys with staff to see where they stand, because if the staff isn’t committed, we shouldn’t do it,” 9-R Superintendent Dan Snowberger said
He will present those results, from about 320 staff members, to the board at its work session Tuesday.
Over the past few months, the district has held six community meetings, created a budget guide to explain school finance in Colorado and conducted a small survey, but the number of people participating has not given it a good sense of community priorities.
The options for a mill levy override have been drilled down to three: a $1.7 million general override, where the district would specify how the money would be spent; a $1.1 million override that would reimburse the district for the three-eighths of a day of kindergarten the state does not fund; and just over $960,000 to cover the difference between what the state pays and what transportation costs the district.
The survey has been sent to families via the 9-R Communicator and will be distributed to staff and families of the two public charter schools in Durango, Animas High and Mountain Middle schools and will be available at the Durango Public Library and its two satellites at Sunnyside and Fort Lewis Mesa elementary schools. Mailed surveys should begin showing up in mailboxes early this week.
Laptops will be set up at all 11 of the district’s schools for people to take it online, and the survey can also be accessed on the school district’s website.
The survey will be the last community input before the board decides whether it will put a mill levy override on the November ballot. Snowberger is concerned voters could experience fatigue, especially since voters may also be considering La Plata County roads and bridges mill levy and an expansion of Durango-La Plata County Airport on the ballot.
While the district could put any or all three of the options on the ballot, the goal is to request a mill levy that voters can support, he said.
abutler@durangoherald.com
On the Net
To take the survey online, visit http://durangoschools.org/. The survey results will be presented to the Durango School District 9-R board at its meeting April 26.
