WEEK OF AUGUST 22, 2024
VOLUME 22 | ISSUE 17
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Superintendent: $490M needed for schools Highlands Ranch
resident Thoennes nearly medals in Olympic rowing BY ED KLAJMAN SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
to accommodate growing neighborhoods that currently don’t have schools, including Sterling Ranch and Ridgegate. Students in those neighborhoods are currently being bused to overflow schools. Kane said the bond is the only way the district can afford to make capital improvements, noting that even if it sold all of its excess land, the money would not cover a year’s worth of maintenance.
PARIS — At the Olympics, it’s often said the most emotionally difficult finish an athlete can have is fourth place — just one spot away from coming home with a medal. Highland Ranch’s Jessica Thoennes has now had that experience for a second consecutive time. The rower finished fourth in the bow seat as part of the women’s eights crew in Tokyo three years ago, just two seconds off the podium. In Paris, Thoennes was in the pairs competition together with Azja Czajkowski. It was a case of different boat – same result, as the duo finished fourth in the final, and once again for Thoennes, about two seconds from having a bronze medal put around her neck. “Yeah, it is a pretty familiar position to be so close and yet and maybe perhaps falling a little short,” said the 28-year-old, who graduated from Mountain Vista High School in 2014.
SEE BOND, P14
SEE ROWING, P6
Douglas County School District Superintendent Erin Kane speaks to the school board about staff ’s recommendation to put a $490 million bond on the November ballot to pay for new schools and building maintenance. The $490 million bond would not PHOTO BY MCKENNA HARFORD raise taxes.
Erin Kane pushes bond to fund buildings, cut maintenance backlog BY MCKENNA HARFORD MHARFORD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Douglas County Superintendent Erin Kane says hundreds of millions of dollars are needed to build new schools and to bring existing ones
into good condition. She has asked the school board to put a $490 million bond on the November ballot to see if voters support paying for a range of improvements. The district hasn’t passed a bond since 2018 and the money from it has since been spent. Without additional bond funding, Kane said a school building maintenance backlog has stacked up to $300 million and is growing yearly. Additionally, the district needs to build new elementary schools
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