The Mill Levy override has been on the minds of every teacher and staff member in Adams 12 lately, but what is a Mill Levy? And how will this affect students and staff here at Horizon High School? 

First, we have to look at how schools are funded. Schools are funded by a mix of local taxes, property taxes, and federal government aid, but most of the schools’ funding comes from property taxes. A Mill Levy is the tax rate for a certain area based on the value of the properties in the area, so the more property value in a taxing district, the more they are taxed and the more those schools are funded. 

This can cause disparities between school districts the government decided to aid financially. The government sets a base amount that schools should get in funding, and if the local taxes can’t cover it, the national government will send in aid to help the school reach that minimum and ensure a more equal education for students.

If the government helps aid underfunded schools, why is there a budgeting issue at Horizon High School? There are a lot of reasons for this. One big part is the teacher salary competition. Adams 12. Horizon hasn’t had the budget to keep up with inflation for teacher salaries. Thus, the pay for teachers here is much lower than in other schools nearby. This can lead to lots of teachers leaving Horizon for another school or district that pays more. Mass teacher migration to other schools is detrimental to the school environment. Not only do students have the chance to lose their favorite teachers who make them want to come to school, but it also means more strain on the teachers who stay with larger class sizes. 

Steve Lash, President of the District 12 Educators’ Association and former teacher at Horizon High School of 26 years says, “I’m excited at the prospect of keeping our current educators, and they won’t have to face the tough decision of going to another district because it pays more.”

Part of it could also be that some of the resources our community needs are more than our budget can handle. All of our teacher salaries, safety, and mental health features, and more come out of the school budget, which can add up quickly even if we are at the government-allocated minimum. The school might need more money to properly provide those resources for its students. That’s where the Mill Levy override comes in. 

For a school to get more funding, it needs more money from the property tax, but if none of the property has changed in value, it can’t be taxed more. But the Mill Levy overrides this. 

But how does all of this affect you and the rest of the student body? 

A larger budget means more resources for the school and its students. More specifically, it could mean more classes, safety measures, mental health support, and a bigger staff. For example, the film study two class that just got approved wouldn’t be able to exist if the override wasn’t approved. Kelsey Morse, a theater and film study teacher at Horizon says, “it would at least ensure I would have the ability to be here and to grow the program.” She further says, “we would still be able to keep the classes, we would be able to have more classes i.e: film study two.” It could also allow for more future forward class options for students and maybe even a couple of those classes on the Horizon campus.

It could also mean more teachers and smaller classes, and smaller student-to-teacher ratios. This can mean a more attentive education experience. It also means teachers will have more time to really bond with a class and pay attention to the needs of individual students and advocate for them, which is a positive force for the classroom. “They would get less support in the classroom. It would also significantly impact their grades and relationship to high school.”

Said Derrick Belanger, a special education teacher at Horizon High School

Another chunk of this new budget will be going to school mental health and safety services within the school, like campus supervisors and social workers, to help take care of the student body.  Rachel Gallagher, a teacher librarian at Horizon High School says “We have amazing counselors, but any like additional psychiatrists or like student mental health support, I think, is always huge,”

All in all, the mill levy override will make huge changes to the resources students have access to in the district and at Horizon High School.