The Montezuma-Cortez RE-1 school board on Tuesday was given updates on the mill levy oversight committee and approved the 2025-26 salary schedule, despite two opposing votes.
In his report, Superintendent Tom Burris provided the board with an update on the creation of a mill levy committee. The formulation of this committee was approved at the last board meeting, and the group will help ensure the funds from the mill levy are used according to the ballot language and dispersed properly. They will also review expenditures from the mill levy.
The district and board had expressed their desire for there to be multiple perspectives on the committee, leading to the final group being made up of a banker, business owner, teachers, District Accountability Committee representative, parents, community members and a representative from one of the district’s charter schools.
The banker is Ed Merritt, retired Dolores State Bank president, and the business owner is former board member and Xtrov real estate owner and agent, Cody Wells.
The two district teachers in the committee are Roxanne Stevens, Mesa Elementary first grade teacher and team lead, and Julie Engel, one of Mesa Elementary’s gifted and talented program liaisons. The DAC representative chosen by the DAC is Kasey Hamerschlag, and the charter school representative is Melissa Carver, Pleasant View Charter School director.
Rounding out the committee is parents Jenny Todacheeny and former board member Rafe O’Brien, and community members Allen Maez, former Montezuma County Republican chairman, and Kelli Hargraves, Montezuma County Department of Social Services director.
Though the committee’s first meeting has not been announced, Burris said they were working on a time that worked for all the committee members to meet.
Toward the end of the meeting, in action items, the board discussed their proposed 2025-26 salary schedule before its approval. According to the board, the salary schedule not only reflects the new teacher and paraprofessional salaries following the passing of the mill levy in November, but raises for other staff who weren’t benefited by the mill.
It was proposed that around 119 MCSD staff (non-teachers and paraprofessionals) would receive a salary increase from the general fund, with a cost of approximately $259,638. The mill levy will fund the salary increases for the 173 teachers and paraprofessionals.
Because the cost of living went up 7% from 2021-2023 and then another 2.3% from January 2024 to January 2025, according to the board, the goal was to reflect a raise that got as close to the 9.3% increase in cost of living as possible.
The board noted that teacher salaries will now start at $47,000 as base pay, a large jump from the base salary of $31,500 for the 2021-22 school year. The salary for the 2023-24 school year was $40,000.
Burris said the hope with the staff raises is to “keep people here across the board.”
Board member Mike Lynch stated his hesitancy in passing the salary schedule, saying he was against the timing and not convinced the raises were equitable across all positions.
The salary schedule passed four to two, with Lynch and Paul Beckler voting against.
