The record
Every measure since 1999.
D38 has gone before its voters repeatedly. Since the 1999 override passed, the district is 0 for 7 on operating overrides. Its only win in that span was the 2006 bond that built Palmer Ridge High School.
| Year | Measure | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Operating override, $4M/yr — no sunset, no escalator | Passed — still in force today |
| 2004 | Issue 3A — charter capital override, ~$310K (Monument Charter Academy) | Failed — a charter measure, not a district operating override |
| 2004 | Issue 3B override ~$750K · 3C bond $33.5M · 3D bond $29.795M | All failed |
| 2006 | Issue 3D — operating override, ~$2M | Failed 49.05% / 50.95% |
| 2006 | Issue 3E — bond, $57M (built Palmer Ridge High School) | Passed 50.72% / 49.28% |
| 2007 | Issue 3B — operating override, ~$3M | Failed |
| 2008 | Operating override, $2.7M | Failed — 54% against |
| 2013 | Issue 3A — operating override, $4.5M | Failed heavily |
| 2018 | Issue 4A — operating override, $1M | Failed 35.53% / 64.47% |
| 2018 | Issue 4B — bond, $36.5M | Failed 33.89% / 66.11% |
| 2019 | Issue 4A — bond, $28.985M | Failed 45.06% / 54.94% |
| 2022 | Issue 4A — operating override for staff compensation, $5.6M | Failed narrowly |
Notes on the margins
Two of these results are reported inconsistently across sources, and we would rather show the gap than pick a number.
- 2004. No source publishes per-measure splits. Contemporaneous coverage reports only that the four measures failed by “majorities that varied from 62 to 70 percent.” Any more precise figure you see for a single 2004 measure is an inference.
- 2013. There is no neutral published margin. The only figure in circulation comes from the campaign that opposed the measure, so we describe the result rather than quote it.
- 2022. Three margins exist for the same election: 934 votes (the district’s count, 47.9–52.1), 360 votes (a board member quoted in local coverage), and roughly 52% against (election-night reporting). All three support “failed narrowly.” The certified county canvass would settle it, and El Paso County’s historical canvasses are not currently available online.
What the record suggests
The 2018 measures failed roughly two to one. Four years later, a $5.6 million override for staff compensation lost by a margin somewhere between a few hundred and a thousand votes. That is a large movement in a short period, and it is the single most useful fact in this table.
It also cuts against the idea that this community is simply unwilling. A close loss is not a mandate against schools. It is a conversation that was nearly won.