Teachers’ unions in Jefferson County won’t back the school district’s mill levy override (MLO) attempts without guarantees on how the money will be spent.

During the Jeffco Public Schools’ Board of Education meeting on Feb. 12, union leaders and teachers expressed concerns with the ongoing discussions regarding a tax increase.

The unions will not back a memorandum of understanding on the push to pass the tax increase without firm guarantees that mill levy funds go to frontline educators and support staff, not central administrators. The district has turned down the request, according to the unions.

“We are told we can’t meet our budget priorities with an MLO, and also we cannot guarantee that MLO funds would be used for priorities, like compensation,” Zander Kaschub, president of the Jeffco Education Support Professionals Association (JESPA), told the board.

The next day, the Jefferson County Education Association (JCEA) and JESPA sent a joint letter to the board, asking the board — not the district’s management — to negotiate directly with the union regarding the memorandum of understanding.

JCEA backed four of the five school board members during election campaigns.

“Our members believe in stable, transparent and responsible funding for public education. However, support for an MLO must be built on trust, accountability, and clear commitments that ensure funds enhance, not simply stabilize district operations,” the letter said.

The letter also pointed to concerns around the lack of polling before campaigning for an MLO and the possibility that the MLO funds are used for budget deficits and not new investments into the district.

Those budget deficits have been a topic of contention in the district over the past year.

For example, the board met with members of the district’s financial team on Nov. 13 to discuss updates to the Budget Reduction Blueprint — a plan to reduce $60 million from the district’s budget in the 2026-2027 school year.

At the time, the plan was to reduce 8-11% of budgets that support staff and schools more indirectly — like salaries for general administration, materials and supplies for school administration and capital outlay.

There would be a 2-4% reduction in budgets that directly serve students — like general instructor salaries, supplies for operational maintenance and service accounts for transportation.

The goal would be to reduce $45 million overall of the over $1 billion budget, with the other $15 million being made up with new revenue.

But, during the Feb. 12 meeting, union representatives cited Colorado Department of Education data showing that the district increased funding to general administration by 40% between 2023-24 and 2024-25, to $57 million.

In that time, total revenue only grew by 8%, according to the unions.

The board has spoken candidly about a need for a mill levy override soon, beginning discussions with the unions in December. The override will likely be on the ballot later this year, but firm plans around its potential allocation have not been settled — hence the unions’ ire.

The district attempted to pass a mill levy override in 2016 but failed. According to Michael Villanueva, an Arvada West High School teacher and member of the unions, the taxes failed to pass because people were unsure of how they would be spent.

The last time the district passed an override was in 2018, with a $33 million increase to support teacher salaries and mental health services.

The 2018 ballot item said “no revenue from such taxes will be used for senior district administration.”

The ballot also claimed the spending of the tax money would be overviewed by a new Citizens’ Financial Oversight Advisory Committee — something both Villanueva and The Golden Transcript reported was never actually created.

“We have recently learned that this group was never formed and no such oversight occurred,” Villanueva told the board.