Polling for Colorado school districts

School districts go to voters for bonds to build and repair schools and for mill levy overrides to fund teachers, programs, and operations. A district poll answers the questions a board has to settle before it refers a measure: bond, override, or both; how much; for which priorities; and how voters without children in the schools see it.

What school districts bring to voters

General obligation bonds for construction, repairs, safety, and technology
Mill levy overrides for teacher pay, programs, and operations
Combined bond and override packages
TABOR revenue retention

What the poll answers

Can it pass? Support and intensity among the voters who will turn out in that election.
How much, and for what? The amount, rate, or duration voters will accept, and the priorities that carry it.
In what words? The TABOR ballot title voters will actually read.
With what argument? The case for and against, tested head to head.

Polling this electorate

Most voters in a school district don’t have children in the schools, and they decide most school tax questions. We sample from the voter file inside the district boundary, which rarely matches a city or county, and report results for parents, non-parents, and older voters separately so the board sees where support is and isn’t.

Questions

Bond or mill levy override: which should we poll?

Often both. A bond pays for buildings and is repaid over time; an override adds to annual operating money. Voters respond differently to each, so we test them side by side and as a package.

How early should a district poll?

In the spring before a November election, before the board settles the amount and the project list, so the poll can shape both.

Can a district pay for polling on its own measure?

Colorado’s Fair Campaign Practices Act bars a local government from spending public money to urge a yes or no vote on a ballot issue once it has been referred or submitted for a title, so government-funded research usually comes first: whether to go to the ballot at all, for how much, for which projects, and in which election. Persuasion and message testing after referral are typically paid for by the campaign committee. Your attorney has the final word on where that line falls for your measure.

All local ballot measures → Cities and towns → Counties → Special districts →

Talk to us about your research

Keating Research is based in Denver. You work directly with the people who design, field, and analyze your research. We travel throughout Colorado and the Mountain West for in-person work: client meetings, board and staff retreats, and presentations to city councils, commissions, and agencies.