The Denver Public Schools Board of Education on Thursday unanimously approved a nearly $1 billion bond package that voters will consider in November.

The vote came shortly after Superintendent Alex Marrero quizzed board members on various aspects of the proposed bond, including whether it would increase taxes.

“No,” the board answered in unison.

If approved at the ballot box, the bond will increase the district’s debt.

“This is not a rubber stamp,” claimed Chuck Carpenter, the district’s chief financial officer. “This was really intense community work.”

The $975 million bond package includes:

• $301 million for “critical maintenance” with 154 buildings receiving upgrades

• $240 million to equip 29 schools with air conditioning

• $100 million for “learning environments” in 136 schools

• $124 million for new facilities in the far northeast

• $127 million for arts, athletics and innovation

• $83 million for safety and technology

“Every school in the district will receive something,” said Trena Marsal, chief of operations.

With the average building across the district 55 years old, nearly $1 out of every $3 of the proposed bond will be used to update the district’s aging buildings, officials said. 

“That’s really old,” Carpenter has said. “They break and we need to fix them.”

The Community Planning and Advisory Committee — which unveiled its recommendations in May — was tasked with identifying school needs for a bond package.

The package also includes more than $200 million to give air conditioning and cooling upgrades to 29 schools.

Hot classrooms have remained a stubborn issue in Denver. Officials have attempted to tackle the issue by throwing millions at the problem for years and created an interim solution — “heat days,” in which students are sent home early.

The district in 2021 also pushed back the return to school by a week in an attempt to mitigate the high temperatures Denver often experiences in August.

Classrooms can get as hot as 92 degrees.

The proposed $975 million bond package represents the largest amount the district has ever asked voters.

Denver residents will also decide the fate of at least one sales tax increase proposal, which supporters said would generate $70 million to help fund the operations of Denver Health. Another tax hike proposed by Johnston would yield $100 million, which the mayor said is needed to fund housing units in the city.

If approved, the two sales tax hike proposals would catapult Denver atop jurisdictions with the highest sales taxes in the metropolis.  

Denver officials push to raise taxes and increase debt come at a time when Colorado’s state policymakers are preparing to go into a special session to reduce property taxes, which have soared in the last few years. 

Denver voters have approved $2.3 billion in ballot measures in the past four presidential elections. Citing the voters’ previous approvals, Marrero joked that he had to keep reminding himself — during the advisory committee meeting in May — to say “proposed” bond.

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, a former English teacher and principal, has endorsed the bond proposal, calling it a “big vision for what is possible for Denver.”

“We know that there’s no way you can have a great city without a great school district,” Johnston has said.

Colorado Schools are funded, based on enrollment, by the state’s General Fund and through local property taxes.

The proposed bond comes as the district faces declining enrollment, tighter school budgets, teacher layoffs, and likely additional school closures.

Denver Families for Public Schools and EDUCATE Denver — civic organizations concerned about the state of public education — have both endorsed the bond proposal.

“All DPS students deserve learning environments that are safe, comfortable and highly functional,” said Rosemary Rodriguez, chair of EDUCATE Denver, in a statement. “The capital resources on the table can support them to that end.

“As civic leaders, we endorse an effort to procure critical resources, but emphasize the need for very sound oversight,” she said. “We owe that to the Denver community and especially to our DPS families.”