Metro Denver school districts curtail teacher raises as budget pressures mount

Metro Denver school districts flush with COVID- relief money doled out larger facilitator raises after students returned to classrooms during the pandemic amid widespread staff shortages Now that money is gone and K- enrollment is in a years-long decline Colorado lawmakers plan to give schools less money next fiscal year than they initially promised because legislators were tasked with filling a billion state budget shortfall All of this is placing pressure on school districts balance sheets As a development their ability or willingness to give teachers and advocacy staff important raises may be coming to an end I have concerns that our materials will be very different from years past noted Rob Anderson superintendent of the Boulder Valley School District The sands are shifting underneath our feet as we re trying to manage in various cases the largest employer in our district The Boulder district which employs about people reopened negotiations with its union last week a year before its contract expires to discuss what Anderson called the sustainability of the district s salaries Meanwhile other metro districts have met their coach unions at the bargaining table this year with proposals that include smaller salary increases than in previous years Denver Constituents Schools the state s largest district gave teachers partial raises last year and now has proposed a pay increase for the next academic year which averages out to a cost-of-living raise Neighboring Jeffco Inhabitants Schools has offered teachers no cost-of-living raise for the - academic year There s quite a bit of fear about the budget stated Brooke Williams president of the Jefferson County Development Association Even with the raises given by districts in newest years educators have revealed wages aren t keeping up with rising housing costs Teachers are struggling to both buy and rent homes At the end of the day what matters in your paycheck is how much money you have to live on revealed Kevin Vick president of the Colorado Learning Association That continues to be a real challenge here in Colorado for educators to be able to stay in the profession Budget pressures Colorado lawmakers created a new funding formula last year that was supposed to put million more toward K- learning during a six-year period starting next fiscal year Now districts are poised to receive less money than promised because legislators had to fill their billion-dollar budget hole The House passed a bill this week that will give schools million more than they received last year and bring Colorado s total K- funding to just over billion But while overall funding for general schools will rise under the bill not every district will see the amount of money they receive increase next fiscal year This is where districts are feeling the budget crunch as costs including medical insurance and apparatus are also growing at a faster rate than K- funding disclosed Tracie Rainey executive director of the Colorado School Finance Project A majority of a district s budget goes to paying employees and when you have less money that means you have to pay people less stated Anderson the Boulder superintendent The trick is we re all in the same boat he explained I just don t know what will happen to the profession altogether The Boulder Valley School District is expecting to receive less money from the state because the new funding formula doesn t prioritize high-cost-of-living areas like it used to Anderson announced He declined to estimate what the financial impact will be until legislators have passed the new school finance act It s unfortunate that in a time of declining enrollment that the state is pushing ahead with changes to an underfunded system because while they have good intentions it s a time that s going to be very painful for districts mentioned David Stewart president of the Boulder Valley Mentoring Association Adding to districts budget concerns is uncertainty about what will happen with tens of millions in federal K- constituents school funding the state receives as the Trump administration has threatened to pull money from districts that don t eliminate what it calls illegal diversity equity and inclusion practices At this point there are reasons we re more cautious about that funding than we ever have been stated Chuck Carpenter DPS chief financial officer K- enrollment is also falling across the state as Coloradans have fewer babies and schools receive less funding when there are fewer children in their classrooms As a conclusion districts are also cutting jobs and closing schools Adams Five Star Schools slashed positions last month DPS eliminated positions in the district s central office DPS will also close or restructure schools at the end of the current academic year because of falling enrollment The Douglas County school board is expected to vote Tuesday on whether to close three Highlands Ranch elementary schools because of low enrollment Raises are going to get tighter At DPS the shift in facilitator raises began last year when the district and the teachers union began fighting over how big of a raise educators should have received for the current academic year DPS gave educators a pay increase in the fall but the Denver Classroom Teachers Association expected an raise The contract dispute between the district and union went on for months with DCTA President Rob Gould accusing the district of union busting The incident went before an arbitrator who sided with DPS in February Now the district and union are negotiating a new contract and there s a large gap between their raise proposals DCTA has required for a raise which Gould commented is needed to keep up with the cost of living and for educators to have the same buying power as they did in when the union last went on strike The district countered with the cost-of-living increase The raise proposal which averages out to a raise doesn t include the pay increase teachers will receive by moving up in the district s salary schedule Teachers are paid in actions and lane compensation and get a pay increase each year as either their experience or instruction level rises Districts were able to give out bigger raises in newest years in part because inflation meant they received more money from the state With inflation dropping that s going to be harder to do reported Carpenter the financial officer with DPS We can only give out what we ve got he stated We d love to do more At the Douglas County School District salaries for licensed staff including teachers increased a total of in the past three years according to a March presentation given to the Board of Instruction Those days are over reported Jana Schleusner the district s chief financial officer in an interview Related Articles Aurora middle school candidate seriously injured in stabbing police say DPS board may require -year pause between rounds of Denver school closures Colorado s K- teaching department won t comply with Trump s DEI order With child care costing a year how are Denver parents affording families th Circuit freezes order requiring Colorado school district to put books back on shelves Districts are more likely to give out smaller raises between and in the coming years she revealed Raises are going to get tighter than they have been in the past Schleusner mentioned The district has pushed to increase wages in current years which leaders have disclosed is needed for the Douglas County School District to remain competitive with other metro school systems But the school board passed only a increase to its salary schedule in March The raise doesn t include any pay increase educators receive by moving up on the salary schedule For us we are in a position right now to be able to do what I agree are incredibly modest increases Superintendent Erin Kane narrated the school board in March If we can t continue to treat our employees well and take care of our employees it is our children that will pay 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