CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT

di erences in locally provided funding, Superintendent Erin Kane said.

“Over time, as our neighbors have passed mill levy override after mill levy override, their funding per student continues to increase,” Kane said.

Douglas County receives $1,167 per student through mill levy overrides, which is less than Denver Public Schools ($3,308 per student), Littleton Public Schools ($3,240 per student), Cherry Creek School District ($3,239 per student) and Je erCo School District ($1,910 per student).

is year, by drawing down district reserves, Douglas County was able to raise starting teacher salaries from $43,680 to $45,209. However, other districts also raised their starting salaries.

Cherry Creek School District starts teachers at $57,000; Denver Public Schools starts at $54,141; Je Co School District o ers $50,000; and Littleton Public Schools’ teachers start at $51,274.

One Legend High School teacher left the district on the rst day of school for a job in Cherry Creek, his colleague told the school board at the Aug. 8 meeting.

Several district sta voiced concern about the impacts of the sta shortages that night. Julie Crawford, a principal at Eldorado Elementary, said hiring over the summer was a struggle for schools.

“ e decrease in the applicant pool and the scarcity of quali ed candidates have been deeply concerning,” she said. “Simply put, it is not that we have unquali ed applicants, it’s that we have zero applicants.”

Douglas County has 52 teacher openings currently, which is similar to the number of openings last year, 59, but has had fewer applicants for the openings compared to last year, Kane said. Kane added that more candidates are declining job o ers than last year. Other positions have seen a more signi cant increase in openings. Last year, the district started with 75 open bus driver positions and 98 open education assistant roles. is year, the district is short 104 bus drivers and 155 education assistants.

Kane said the shortages mean