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Denver Schools say lease-financing is lawful, critics say it skirts voter oversight
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Approved, denvergazette.com, Local

Denver Schools say lease-financing is lawful, critics say it skirts voter oversight

By Nicole C. Brambila | Denver Gazette In a motion to dismiss filed Friday in response to a lawsuit, Denver Public Schools (DPS) defended its use of lease-purchase agreements — a financing method critics say sidesteps required voter approval for public debt that could leave students without access to their schools if the district defaults. “This allegedly unlawful ‘scheme’ is actually a common and completely legal method of financing projects for public entities in a manner that is authorized by statute and has been repeatedly ratified by Colorado courts,” DPS officials said in their filing. As previously reported by The Denver Gazette, DPS has quietly taken on hundreds of millions of dollars in long-term debt through a controversial financing tactic that sidesteps the state’s con...
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Denver Public Schools leased schools through shell corporation, hiding almost $1B in off-book financing
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Approved, denvergazette.com, Local

Denver Public Schools leased schools through shell corporation, hiding almost $1B in off-book financing

By Nicole C. Brambila | Denver Gazette Denver Public Schools transferred ownership of at least 31 schools to a shell corporation, then leased them back for hundreds of millions of dollars Denver Public Schools has quietly taken on hundreds of millions of dollars in long-term debt without voter approval — money that could otherwise be used to lower class sizes, increase teacher pay or expand student support services, an investigation by The Denver Gazette has found. The spending comes as contract negotiations between the district and the Denver Classroom Teachers Association (DCTA) have stalled, with union leaders pointing to the district's failure to fully fund last year’s cost-of-living adjustment. Educators have repeatedly called for smaller class sizes, better compensation a...
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