El Paso and Teller County 2024 Education Election Results | Election coverage

Early unofficial results indicate El Paso County voters favor new investments for Academy School District 20 and Harrison School District 2, while voters in Woodland Park are opting to maintain a current funding mechanism for their school district.

For voters residing in Academy School District 20, early results show 57.53% of voters support Ballot Measure 4B and 42.47% oppose it. The measure would add $83 million in bond funding for capital projects across the county. $49 million will go toward rebuilding Air Academy High School. And $23 million of the bond will be used to upgrade facilities at all non-charter schools in the district – $9.48 million for capital improvements at The Classical Academy charter school and $1.66 million at New Summit Charter Academy.

The new bond will not result in new taxes, but rather an increase in the current tax rate. Projects include upgrading LED lighting in all district schools to meet mandatory lighting requirements recently enshrined in law.

Unlike the D-20 question, the 4A ballot measure will increase local property taxes for Harrison School District 2 voters to increase the district's general fund by $9 million annually. Unofficial results reported by El Paso County showed 54.80% in favor of the mill levy and 45.20% opposed.

Specifically, the new funds would go toward increasing teacher salaries, maintaining the D-2 scholarship program for two years of free college at Pikes Peak State College and improvements at the district's charter schools.

“I am so proud that our community is sending a message that they trust and believe in our schools, and we look forward to celebrating this with them,” said Principal Wendy Birhanzel after the first results on Tuesday evening.

In Teller County, unofficial results speak for themselves: 56.37% of voters oppose repealing the 1.09% local sales tax currently used to fund the Woodland Park School District, and 43.63% support eliminating the tax.

Revenue from the tax has averaged about 11% of the district's total budget since the intergovernmental agreement with the Woodland Park City Council was first approved in 2016, or about $3 million in increased financial transparency and accountability for the school district.

Woodland Park Public Schools CEO Mick Bates said he was “very encouraged” by the early results.

“If we lost that $3.2 million, it would have been devastating for us,” he said.

In eastern El Paso County, voters residing in RJ-1 of the Calhan School District voted against a measure that would allow Board of Education members to hold office for more than two consecutive terms. Initial unofficial results show that 74.28% of voters opposed the measure and 25.72% were in favor.