A day after Adams 14 kicked off the back-to-school season for Colorado, students in two of the state’s largest districts joined them. Douglas County Schools and Aurora Public Schools students started the new school year Tuesday.
In Aurora, the new school year brings a new superintendent, two new schools and even a new website for the district. Aurora Highlands P-8 is opening for the 2023-24 school year. It’s the first of four new schools that will be built in the growing Highlands community along the E-470 corridor. A second new school, Del Mar Academy, is opening in northwestern Aurora near the Aurora Hills golf course. It's the first new school in the Del Mar neighborhood in almost 60 years. It will replace Lynn Knoll Elementary, Sixth Avenue Elementary and South Middle School. Tuesday also marked the first day of school for new superintendent Michael Giles. Prior to joining APS, Giles spent 21 years in the Cherry Creek School District.
In Douglas County, the district is opening the Legacy Campus to students this year, offering career and technical education courses for high school juniors and seniors. Programs will include culinary arts, aviation, architecture, health care and education. DCSD Superintendent Erin Kane said the district is also partnering with higher education institutions to help students get college credit.
“Our kids can leave high school with an actual transcript with college credits on it so that they can continue on to their chosen pathway whether they want to go directly into industry or continue on to college and have a significant leg up,” Kane said.
A big focus for school leaders in Douglas County this fall will be a mill levy override that seeks to raise teacher pay by raising property taxes. Kane said they are asking for less than last November’s ballot measure, which voters rejected.
“It’s actually an additional $200 a year (in property taxes) for a million dollar house, we tried to keep the impact as small as we possibly could,” Kane said
Kane said Douglas County teachers, on average, earn 19,000 less than teachers in neighboring districts. If voters pass the mill levy override, starting pay could go up to over $50,000 a year. Pay for bus drivers and other staff would also be increased. Last week, Douglas County announced it was short 104 bus drivers ahead of the new school year, and will adopt a system of “rolling” cancellations for bus routes.
