AURORA | Being an expert mathematician was never in Steve Hamilton’s job description, but he’s had to get better and better with numbers in the past five years.
In that time, Hamilton, the principal at Columbia Middle School in Aurora, has had to come up with new formulas for fitting more than 750 sixth, seventh and eighth graders into classrooms during a normal school day. Steady rounds of budget cuts from the state have meant fewer teachers and more crowded classes. Following the elimination of about 22 percent of the staff in the past five years, for example, Columbia’s teachers have had to shift from teaching four classes a day to six.
The effects of that pressure go deeper than mere inconvenience, Hamilton said.
“When (politicians) and everyone else discuss class size, part of what people don’t think about is physical space,” Hamilton said. “You have to make a decision about how you’re going to keep your classes at 30 to 32 students so you can safely move around a room. I’ve made decisions … to try to accommodate keeping functional space.”
Along with other principals, administrators and board members from the Aurora Public Schools district, Hamilton has been working to convey that message of need in advance of the election Nov. 6. The ballot will include a tax question from the APS district worth $15 million, a mill levy override that would add more than $8 to monthly property taxes for a median Aurora home. If approved by voters, the $15 million mill levy override would add about $5.71 per month in property taxes for every $100,000 of actual home value.
The mill levy override would go toward filling gaps left by millions of dollars worth of reductions from the state, specifically for academic programs, classroom technology, equipment and curriculum materials, teacher retention and maintaining smaller class sizes.
APS Superintendent John Barry has spoken at length about the dire need for the funding, citing the combined impact of $70 million worth of cumulative cuts from the state and insisting that such reductions “hinder our ability to be globally competitive in this world.” Barry spoke of the overall effects of the cuts during the formal launch of the ballot campaign at Aurora Central High School in September, insisting, “I’m not a big tax guy, but I am a competitor … The facts are dire.”
The campaign has focused on needs and effects on a district-wide level, but administrators like Hamilton have seen the reality of these reductions individual building level. Questions of curriculum, class size and equipment are everyday, pressing concerns at Columbia, a school that adopted a specific focus on science, technology, engineering and math as part of the district’s pathways program.
“We used to have French and Spanish. We used to have computer classes. We’ve had to cut our health classes as well. Even after that, we still started to see some changes,” Hamilton said. “Columbia is one of the STEM schools. I used to have three staff members who taught aspects of STEM. I have lost the person who coordinated our outside activities … It’s not what it’s used to be (but) it’s still here.”
The mill levy override would help keep that focus strong, Hamilton said, whether it’s through the benefit of added staff members or the addition of new equipment and ramped up technology, tools that connect directly to the school’s STEM program.
“It will help us keep up with the technology that we’ve got. Over time, the laptops and the netbooks age. They have to be replaced,” Hamilton said, pointing to STEM curriculum that includes interactive computer design, Google accounts and Promethean boards.
Critics of the ballot measure have insisted that the district should make due with their existing budget, and have pointed to the fact that voters passed a bond issue and mill levy override in 2008 worth millions. The Citizens for Responsible Aurora Government have offered the argument that the district is running a campaign based on entitlement.
But in leading school meetings and walking the neighborhoods, Hamilton said he hasn’t heard such claims. Instead, he said he’s found parents who feel like they have a firsthand stake in the future of the school.
“I think that’s reflective of Columbia’s community,” he said, pointing to the fact that parents and other groups have had firsthand input in maintaining the school’s music, arts and athletic programs. “Our community at Columbia has been so closely connected to education. The 2008 mill and bond (election) was huge. I’m confident and excited that this community will continue to recognize education and help our district.”
Reach reporter Adam Goldstein at agoldstein@aurorasentinel.com or 720-449-9707
I’ll be voting for the extra tax dollars to go our schools, but I’m a bit shocked that the standard “class load” for teachers was only 4 classes. It’s now 6?
What’s the average duration of each class? I’d like to do the math on how much time each teacher is actually teaching during the day.
I do appreciate that a teacher’s job is not “9 to 5”, but to pay a professional to spend their school time NOT teaching seems a bit much.
As Citizens for Responsible Aurora Government (CRAG) noted on their web site:
https://cragaurora.com/
#1) In 2008, voters approved two bond issues worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
#2) CRAG also noted: “Each year, every APS student is directly provided $8,151.00 in funding from the state, local, federal and other sources. Arapahoe-Adams Funds In 2011, if you include school bonds, federal and other grants, the total funding per student is $10,038.00”
#3) On average a total of 66% of your entire property tax bill currently goes to Aurora Public Schools
#4) CRAG also noted that: “This new tax, dedicated to APS 28J schools, would increase your dedicated school property tax by over 16%.”
The dire predictions that the sky is falling is nonsense. APS does indeed think they are entitled.
This year voters have the opportunity to say “Enough is Enough” and vote NO on this tax increase.