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November 9, 2022
Dear DCSD Families,
I want to sincerely thank our amazing community for joining together over the past few months in support of ballot initiatives 5A: Mill Levy Override and 5B: Bond. We came so close! As of this morning, 5A received over 49% support and 5B received almost 47%. While there are still votes to be counted, it is unlikely that the results will change. However, I believe that we should be celebrating the amazing gains in support we have made in such a short time!
Our efforts to educate the community about how DCSD is funded and the need for additional dollars began less than six months ago. Normally, these types of measures would have a 12-18 month runway. So while it’s disappointing that 5A and 5B did not pass, it is very encouraging to see how much community support for these measures has increased. In May, 5A polled at 39% and 5B at 36% - I can still hear the pollster telling me that it is impossible to move the needle when starting that low, and look how close we came! If we were able to move the needle by over 10 percentage points in a few months, imagine what we can do with another 12 months. I want you to know that my leadership team and I are absolutely committed to continuing the work of educating our community and we are optimistic that with additional time, the MLO and Bond can and will pass.
The way our community joined together over the past few months to support these initiatives was inspiring and really demonstrates Douglas County’s commitment to our schools, educators, and of course, our kids. It was amazing to watch people who had bitter disagreements just eight months ago, come together and fight for what really matters - our students, our staff, and our school district. I would like to especially thank the citizens involved in the Invest in DCSD campaign committee (especially the committee chair, Christa Gilstrap), as well as staff, board members, parents and community members who volunteered countless hours to knock on doors and educate our residents about the need for this funding.
Please know that we are not done with our work to educate residents about our need to be competitive and to invest in our capital infrastructure - this is just a delay. And, in the meantime, our school district will be okay.
- Pay will not be frozen or reduced for any employee classification. State revenue is predicted to increase, and DCSD will be in a position to keep its new licensed salary schedules in place without dipping into fund balance and to continue to make modest increases to pay for all of our employee groups. While we won’t be able to pay staff competitively relative to our neighbors just yet, we will continue to move forward as we have been.
- We will keep educating our community about the need for funding. Over the coming months we will continue our efforts to educate residents about how funding works and our needs moving forward to ensure that we can continue to deliver on our commitment to provide our students with bright futures!
- We will engage with our community to create plans to address enrollment growth and declines. We will continue to evaluate areas with enrollment growth as well as enrollment decline and we will engage our community in our plans to address both.
The biggest take away from this election is a positive one. The way our staff, families and community came together to work towards a common goal was incredibly inspiring. It is clear that Douglas County residents are absolutely invested in doing what’s right for our kids (we just have to reach more of those residents!). I remain optimistic about our future and I stand with each of you – ready to fight for our students, our staff, and our amazing school district, for as long as it takes. Because our kids deserve nothing less.
Thank you for your continued partnership and support. I look forward to seeing what the future will bring.
Erin Kane
Superintendent
Douglas County School District
P.S. On a related note, according to unofficial election results, it appears that state Proposition FF: Healthy Meals For All Public School Students will be passed by voters. While this was not a DCSD initiative, this ballot measure will affect our school district as it provides free meals to all public school students beginning in the 2023-2024 school year. Our Nutrition Services department will provide more information about this program in the coming months.