Cherry Creek’s 2021-22 budget to include 4% raise, $1,000 bonuses for teachers and staff

CENTENNIAL | Cherry Creek School District employees will receive a $1,000 bonus as a cost of living increase, along with 4% raises as part of the district’s budget for the next school year.

The board unanimously approved the 2021-2022 budget during its final meeting of the school year, which was dominated by hours of public comment on the topic of critical race theory and diversity in school.

Chief financial officer Scott Smith presented the budget details to the board. He said jokingly that since there were so many people in the audience to speak for public comment he was tempted “to go down the rabbit hole of school finance,” but would try to rein himself in.

The district was initially bracing for a significant reduction in funds but the economic recovery from the pandemic has been much faster than expected, Smith said, due in large part to federal stimulus money. Another boon is a recent change in how the state funds schools, helping to boost school revenues in Cherry Creek and across the state.

From a budget perspective this is a good year, Smith said, but the district has to make sure it doesn’t overextend itself since they expect federal revenue additions will eventually end.

“We have to be very careful that we don’t set ourselves up to go over the fiscal cliff in two or three years when federal stimulus money runs out,” he said.

The district’s per-pupil funding from the state will increase by $859 to $8,966 in the next school year. Overall, the district will get a 10% increase in funding next year, about $45 million, compared to a usual increase of 3% or 4%, partly because of the injection of one-time stimulus money.

Smith cautioned that this will not be the new normal.

Using money from its general fund, the district will remove all future furlough days for employees, part of a previous plan to reduce spending during the pandemic. Future furloughs were expected to save the district $10 million, according to draft budget details.

Now, Cherry Creek will give $22 million in ongoing pay raises (about a 4% raise per employee) and give staff a one-time payment of about $1,000, which Smith said was to offset cost of living increases.

The district will also spend money to lower the ratios of students to teachers in elementary and middle schools, replace some aging school buses and reinstate middle school activities and athletics, which were cut during the pandemic.

Money from ballot questions 4A and 4B, the mill levy increase and bond issues approved by voters last fall, will go to a range of construction and improvement projects in the district, including the building of its final elementary school.

The meeting was the first for the district’s new superintendent, former chief of staff Chris Smith. Smith thanked Cherry Creek employees, parents and students for their tenacity during the pandemic and vowed to approach the next year with a growth mindset.

“There are conversations about learning loss, and we do know that is real,” Smith said. “However, I will tell you, our kids learned a lot. We as parents learned a lot. We will focus on their assets and what they bring to the table coming back next year, and we will focus on what they learned and inspire them to be better.” 

The school board is now on break for the summer. Its first meeting of the 2021-2022 school year is scheduled for Aug. 9 at Cherokee Trail High School.