Colorado voters appeared ready Tuesday to greenlight billions of dollars in spending by school districts, with major bond proposals in metro Denver winning significant support in early election results. Denver Public Schools, Aurora Public Schools and the Cherry Creek School District each put bond measures on the ballot that approached or reached $1 billion. All three had received a significant majority of voters’ support as of 10 p.m. Tuesday. ELECTION RESULTS: Live Colorado election results for the 2024 election A smaller $490 million bond measure by the Douglas County School District also was ahead with 58.76% support. That measure, if passed, would be used to build schools and for maintenance projects. It was the district’s third attempt in three years to get a bond measure passed. Voters demonstrated considerable support for Denver Public Schools’ $975 million bond Tuesday, with early returns showing 73.82% in favor of Ballot Issue 4A. Colorado’s largest school district plans to use the bond to pay for air conditioning in 29 schools, along with other maintenance and safety projects. It’s the most money DPS has ever asked voters to borrow. Early results showed 73.41% of voters supported Aurora Public Schools’ $1 billion bond, which would be used to build three new schools, among other renovations and expansions. The Aurora district’s $30 million mill levy — which would go toward general building maintenance, mental health services and teacher salaries — also received 62.7% of voters’ support, early results showed. The Cherry Creek School District’s $950 million bond proposal had received 54.74% of the vote in early returns. If the bond passes, the district will use the debt on several projects, including building maintenance, expanding the Cherry Creek Innovation Campus and rebuilding Laredo Middle School. The district would also replace the West Building at Cherry Creek High School. Overall, at least 32 school districts across Colorado were seeking nearly $7 billion via bonds, mill levies and other funding mechanisms Tuesday so that the districts can repair aging buildings, construct new schools and make other improvements. If all of the ballot measures are approved, more than half of Colorado’s 881,464 preschool-to-12th-grade students would benefit, according to the Colorado School Finance Project. This year is the first time any school district in the state has proposed a billion-dollar bond measure, according to data collected by the Colorado Department of Education, which tracks elections going back to 1981. School districts asked voters to approve bonds so that they can make capital improvements and maintenance repairs — expenses that leaders at multiple metro Denver districts said are too costly to pay for with the money in their general budgets. Coloradans historically like to approve school bond measures, but leaders expressed concern that growing mistrust in education and the cost-of-living crisis could have affected voters’ willingness to open their wallets this election cycle. DPS and the Douglas County School District have faced more scrutiny in recent years, partly because of infighting among school board members and for violating the state’s open meetings laws. Related Articles Election | Colorado 2024 election results: Who won, who lost and races still too close to call Election | Kamala Harris wins Colorado in presidential election, AP projects Election | Live Denver election results Election | PHOTOS: Election Day 2024 in Colorado Election | Democrats’ supermajority in Colorado legislature too close to call District officials in Denver, Aurora and Douglas County all said their bond measures won’t increase property taxes because, if approved, they would simply extend an existing tax increase. If the new bonds aren’t approved then taxes would decrease. The Cherry Creek School District’s bond proposal and its mill levy increase would lead to a tax increase of less than $3 a month for each $100,000 of property value. Stay up-to-date with Colorado Politics by signing up for our weekly newsletter, The Spot.