In an overwhelming result, more than 73% of voters in Denver have given their approval to what is being described as the largest school bond in the history of the Mile High City.
Passage of Ballot Issue 4A means that up to $975 million will be spent on a wide variety of school facility projects within the sprawling Denver Public Schools district which encompasses more than 200 school facilities and has a current enrollment more than 93,000 students.
By design, the bond will see upwards of $301 million spent on what is being described as district-wide “critical maintenance” issues. Another $240 million is set to target upgrades to facility heating and cooling systems.
Uniquely, the bond will also go for several theater space projects. According to the publication 2024 Bond Initiative Overview, which was released during the election campaign, $43 million will go for modernizing and updating “old auditoriums and stages with seating, curtains/screens, acoustical treatment, sound, lighting, and projection systems.”
That $43 million is additionally slated to be used for the creation of audio visual and broadcasting studios, as well as reconfiguring art shop classrooms.
Up to $124 million is slated for the expansion of the district’s modern Ceylon Campus, an early childhood education and elementary school that was completed earlier this year and is located at 19201 East 62nd Avenue.
Another $100 million will go for the construction of a new health clinic and all-gender restrooms at the Paul Sandoval campus at 5500 Central Park Boulevard.
In a statement responding to the election result, Denver Public Schools Superintendent Alex Marrero said, “We are grateful for the foresight of our community to help us ensure that our students will be provided a safe and welcoming environment in which to learn and grow.”
One of the largest such districts in the West, the Denver Public Schools district is also among the oldest, having been founded one year before Abraham Lincoln was elected president.
November 11, 2024
By Garry Boulard
