Passing an Elusive Mill Levy
June 01, 2025
When I was hired to serve Colorado鈥檚 Greeley-Evans School District 6 in 2015, the community, located an hour north of Denver, never had passed a mill levy override, which is a tax initiative to bring additional local property tax revenue into a district.
In 2009, the district pursued a mill levy override that failed by a significant margin. Many believed the district would never gain voter support for such a tax measure. The last bond measure to address building capacity and deferred maintenance was approved by voters in 2001.
The disparity in funding for District 6 kept us from addressing our students鈥� academic and social-emotional needs. In this 22,600-student district, resources were scarce. Textbooks were outdated, salaries were not competitive and buildings had urgent safety and technology issues. A third of the district鈥檚 35 schools were on the state accountability clock. Improving the district鈥檚 financial status was key to meeting these challenges.
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This essay is part of a series called "Winning Ideas from Winning Superintendents." To view the other essays in the series, visit the June publication page.
As a central part of the applications for the National Superintendent of the Year program that 萝卜AV视频manages annually, every state-level nominee is required to complete a series of four essays. The prompts require each superintendent to draw on the totality of their experiences over time to capture in words their leadership for learning philosophy and accomplishments, public communication skills, community involvement and professionalism.
Each of the submitted essays, running 1,000 words or less, captures the sharp thinking and meritorious actions taken by those leaders or the school systems they oversee.
In the pages that follow, we鈥檝e dubbed them 鈥渨inning ideas鈥� from 18 of the 49 state-level honorees in 2025 (Hawaii does not have a state applicant) in the National Superintendent of the Year program.
鈥� Jay P. Goldman
Full Roster of State Honorees:鈥俆he limitations of space prevent us from featuring every educator recognized in the 2025 National Superintendent of the Year program. A complete roster of each state鈥檚 award winner, along with their biographies and photos, can be found on the .
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