2018 Mill Levy Override

Investing in Our Future

Jeffco schools are our greatest shared community investment

Our public schools are an important investment that belongs to all of us. Whether or not you have children, strong schools fuel our local economy, develop a skilled workforce, attract new families, and protect property values for everyone.

At Jeffco Public Schools, we are committed to responsible stewardship of your taxpayer dollars. Every dollar entrusted to Jeffco by our taxpayers is a promise. It’s a promise to our students that they will have the tools they need to thrive, and a promise to our community that we will manage those resources with the highest level of integrity.

In 2018, Jeffco voters approved a General Purpose Mill Levy Override to invest in our students, staff, and schools. This webpage shows how those voter-approved investments have been used, the impact they've had, and how the district continues to honor the commitments made to our community.

Your Investment at Work

When Jeffco voters approved the 2018 General Purpose MLO, they prioritized five core areas to support our students, and the intended program allocation included:

Competitive Staff Compensation

50%

student high fives campus security officer

Safety & Mental Health

20%

STEM & Career Tech (CTE)

10%

Classroom Tech & Materials

10%

Early Childhood Education

10%

Note: Colorado law requires school districts to share a portion of their funding with charter schools before allocating the remaining funds to their own programs and operations.

How This Investment Has Been Used So Far

The 2018 Mill Levy Override investments have directly benefitted our kids, improved our classrooms and strengthened our community. Here is a breakdown of the five key priorities you funded and how that money is making a difference:

Attracting & Retaining High-Quality Educators

Ensure our students learn from the best by providing strong pay and benefits to attract and keep the most talented teachers and staff.

Honoring the Promise: In the 2019–20 school year, the Board of Education doubled down on this promise, deploying a $33 million investment to provide a 5% average salary increase for returning employees—doubling the baseline amount provided by the 2018 MLO alone.
The Impact: Ongoing investment has pushed average teacher salaries closer to our Front Range neighbors, allowing Jeffco to stabilize teacher turnover rates at a competitive 13.35% for the 2024–25 school year.
Changing District Needs: Keeping up with neighboring districts remains a constant challenge. To protect the academic success of our kids, we must continue prioritizing competitive compensation so our best educators stay in Jeffco classrooms.

Improving Student Safety & Mental Health Services

Build a secure, supportive school culture where every student feels a deep sense of safety and belonging.

Strengthening School Safety: We added full-time campus supervisors at 16 middle and K–8 schools that previously had no on-site security staff. We also added five armed patrol officers to protect after-school events and activities.
Expanding Impact: We significantly expanded access to student support services across the district, helping ensure more students have access to the resources they need to succeed.
Proactive Prevention: We implemented universal screening for social, emotional, and behavioral skills annually for over 65,000 students to catch needs early. We trained 12,000+ staff members in suicide prevention and 3,000+ staff in trauma-informed crisis de-escalation. We created and implemented an ongoing comprehensive suicide prevention model for students, staff and families.

Expanding STEM & Career Technical Education (CTE)

Equip students with the real-world skills, tools, and credentials they need to jump into high-wage, high-demand careers right here in Colorado.

The Impact: Your investments have drastically improved student outcomes from where we started to today:
- 50% Growth in CTE concentrators, rising from 1,912 to 2,873 students.
- 9x Increase in hands-on, work-based learning experiences, jumping from 141 to 1,300.
- Double the Credentials: Industry credentials earned by students grew from 798 to 1,888.
A Pathway to Future Success: CTE works. Seniors who focus on CTE pathways achieve an incredible 96.2% on-time graduation rate, outperforming the district average across every single demographic subgroup.
Changing District Needs: Our students and community want more access to these opportunities. Demand is currently outstripping our capacity; for the 2026–27 school year, Warren Tech maxed out its 1,791 seats, leaving 1,487 students on the waitlist. Expanding CTE pathways at Warren Tech and neighborhood high schools is a major priority for our upcoming funding goals.

Updating Classroom Materials, Books & Technology

Provide modern, safe, and developmentally appropriate learning tools for the 21st-century classroom.

Infrastructure & Safety Upgrades: We successfully upgraded our wireless networks, replaced expiring district-wide phone hardware, and expanded elementary school security cameras from one camera per school up to eight. Digital learning applications, resources and tech support for staff, students, and families.
Changing Needs Based On Your Feedback: We are committed to keeping you informed and listening to your feedback. When families voiced concerns about the developmental appropriateness of 1:1 screen devices for our youngest learners (grades K–2), we listened. We are adjusting our technology investments based on your feedback and continuous data privacy reviews.

Expanding Early Childhood Education

Give our youngest learners a strong start while remaining flexible as state funding and community demographics change.

Growing the Model: We originally used MLO funds to expand full-day preschool access from 26 classrooms to 92. However, when Colorado launched its state-funded Universal Preschool (UPK) program in 2023, we adapted.
Meeting Demand: Because local birth rates are declining—leading to fewer preschool-aged children overall—we shifted our MLO dollars to match our greatest current need: Special Education (SPED) for 3- and 4-year-old preschoolers.
The Impact: Preschool SPED evaluations jumped from 498 to 622 annually, and MLO funds now directly support 111 licensed teachers and 144 specialists who provide these important student interventions.

By The Numbers: Where We Are Today

As of spring 2026

The mill levy override provides ongoing funding for our district, which we spend every year on our district’s top priorities.

You can track current and past investment distributions on the district’s Mill Levy Override Committee page or review the 2026 MLO Presentation for additional details and updated tracking on 2018 to present MLO funds.

Jeffco’s Commitment to Transparency & Accountability

The Mill Levy Override Committee (MLOC) was formed to provide more oversight. The committee is made up of neighbors and experts who review how areas of investment align with commitments made to voters. This includes the 2018 MLO and any future voter-approved MLOs. Learn more about MLOC and the important work they do.

The Need For Additional Funding

1,500+

Students on CTE Waitlist

Weakening the local workforce pipeline and readiness for college and career.

9th/10

Jeffco Teacher Salary Rank

Compared to Front Range districts for midpoint annual salary.

High Cost of Living Crisis

Makes it difficult for employees to live in the community where they work.

Today's Funding

group of graduates outside throw caps in the air

We take great pride in our students' high achievements, but we must face a critical reality together: Jeffco Public Schools ranks last in per-pupil funding among our Front Range peers.

We are working hard to live within our means, but our current resources cannot keep up with student needs. We have already taken responsible actions to balance our budget. Because we value transparency with our taxpayers, we want you to know:

How school funding works
The difficult cuts we have already made through our Budget Reduction Blueprint
- We implemented $40 million in budget cuts to realize ongoing savings, beginning in the 2026–27 school year.
School Consolidations: We closed 21 schools since 2021, generating $20 million in ongoing annual savings.
Property Dispositions: We successfully managed vacant properties, tracking approximately $17.4 million in actual sales value to date, with an estimated total revenue potential of $55 million from property sales.

Despite these efforts, our students are receiving less investment than kids in neighboring school districts. Learn more about how Jeffco is planning for a sustainable future on Jeffco’s Future Funding webpage.