APS may ask voters for $15M for operating expenses in November

AURORA | The Aurora Public Schools Board of Education is set to vote Aug. 21 on whether to ask voters for $15 million in November, an issue that would add more than $8 to monthly property taxes for a median Aurora home.

Peter Osborn, 11, cheers on a robot he designed and bulit Monday morning, June 18 at the Institute of Science and Technology (IST) building on East Jewell Avenue in Aurora. More than 400 students from Prairie Middle School, Overland High School and feeder schools in the Cherry Creek School District are attending summer school classes at IST. Students from 6th to 12th grade have signed up for pre-algebra, algebra 1 and geometry classes that span six weeks in order to advance during the 2012-13 school year. Elective courses are also available. (Marla R. Keown/Aurora Sentinel)

Aman Tewolde (left), 13, Ryan Buxton (center), 13, and Aleks Nagy (right), 11, play with robots the three students designed and built Monday morning, June 18 at the Institute of Science and Technology (IST) building on East Jewell Avenue in Aurora. More than 400 students from Prairie Middle School, Overland High School and feeder schools in the Cherry Creek School District are attending summer school classes at IST. Students from 6th to 12th grade have signed up for pre-algebra, algebra 1 and geometry classes that span six weeks in order to advance during the 2012-13 school year. Elective courses are also available. (Marla R. Keown/Aurora Sentinel)

Ryan Buxton (left), 13, and Aleks Nagy (right), 11, play with robots the two students designed and built Monday morning, June 18 at the Institute of Science and Technology (IST) building on East Jewell Avenue in Aurora. More than 400 students from Prairie Middle School, Overland High School and feeder schools in the Cherry Creek School District are attending summer school classes at IST. Students from 6th to 12th grade have signed up for pre-algebra, algebra 1 and geometry classes that span six weeks in order to advance during the 2012-13 school year. Elective courses are also available. (Marla R. Keown/Aurora Sentinel)

The APS board is scheduled to finalize details of the $15 million mill issue during its regular session on Aug. 21. If approved by voters in November, the mill levy override would add about $5.71 per month in property taxes for every $100,000 of actual home value. The money would go toward operational expenses in the school district, costs that include academic programs and technology improvements.

According to district officials, the board will decide this week on the final ballot language for the mill levy increase. What’s more, the board could provide final authorization to place the question on the ballot.

In a message written to APS district staff and administrators on the district’s website, Superintendent John Barry said the mill levy override would “recover a portion of the state funding that APS has lost since 2009,” specifically for academic programs, classroom technology, equipment and curriculum materials, teacher retention and maintaining smaller class sizes.

In 2008, the district passed a $14.7 million mill levy. In the past four years, that money has gone toward programs like Fifth Block, an initiative that provides extra weeks of summer instruction for students across the district. The money also paid for the expansion of programs like International Baccalaureate and Academic and Career Pathways.

Earlier this year, the Cherry Creek School District Board of Education approved a $125 million bond issue for the November election to fund high school expansions in Aurora and other capital improvements to buildings across the district.

Reach reporter Adam Goldstein at agoldstein@aurorasentinel.com or 720-449-9707