The Manitou Springs School District is gearing up to put a new bond measure on the November ballot. The $67.8 million bond would provide critical infrastructure needs across all district facilities.
“The bond package that we’re looking at is $67.8 million,” said Mary Carol Cowart, bond steering committee member and Manitou Springs Middle School teacher. That does not include the potential for a BEST [Building Excellent Schools Today] grant … which we may or may not get. We’re going to include that prior to the BEST grant in terms of all four schools and our sports fields as well.”
The BEST grant program, administered by the Colorado Department of Education, increases the level of financial assistance provided to school districts for capital construction projects. The BEST legislation, Colorado House Bill 08-1335, provides for capital projects including new schools, major renovations, additions and smaller projects.
Cowart explained how potential bond funds would be utilized. “So, Ute Pass Elementary, we’re looking at a playground enhancement, which would be about $600,000 for playground and site improvement,” she said. “And then some deferred maintenance of $1.7 million for some infrastructure needs such as painting, doors, paperwork, windows, fire alarms, ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act] compliance, things that just need to happen up there. So the total investment for Ute has been $2.3 million. Manitou Springs Elementary, looking at better air systems for $2,800,000, new heating and cooling systems, some safety improvements such as front doors and alarm systems, and auditorium updates because we know how valuable our auditorium is to the students in the district, and for our community as well. So we’re looking at $6.2 million at Manitou Springs Elementary School. For Manitou Springs Middle School, we’re looking at a two-phase renovation, so if this bond passes, this will be phase one of this, and looking at some major improvements to square footage and how the building kind of flows, as you will. Total investment will be $25.2 million. And those are looking at modernizing some learning spaces and improving the flow, kind of how the buildings run.”
It’s going to be a challenging process. – Connie Brachtenbach, D14 school board member
Cowart also addressed using bond funds for athletic fields and facilities. “[We’re] looking at track resurfacing, which really needs to be done,” she said. “Our track is not safe at the current time, so that’s $1.25 million.That way, it would meet current standards for safety and performance, allowing us to host track meets at the high school. Field replacement is a big price tag, but looking at terms for upper field, football field, and baseball field improvement, this does not include the new press box facility, I believe this also included getting our football/soccer field to regulation size, so that’s 8.9 million for the complete remodel of all the sports facilities.”
Board member Jill Bishop noted the importance of community buy-in for the potential bond measure. “I love all of the ideas for both middle school and high school,” said Bishop. “Not going to lie – as a constituent of this community, these are some big dollar signs, and when I look at what it does to my yearly property tax, I do go [gasps]. In my mind it’s money really well spent, but I really think what we need to do when we talk about this is to go into the community and really find out what does the greater community think? Not just those of us that go to bond steering committee meetings, or those of us that come to board meetings. We really need to get out there and get the opinions of the folks out there in our constituency and see what’s realistic for our schools because we do have some things that really need to be done, especially in terms of real compliance and making this a safe place for kids and staff.”
The district attempted a $43 million bond in 2021, but the effort was unsuccessful. “It’s going to be a challenging process,” said board member Connie Brachtenbach.
The bond steering committee will begin hosting community meetings and other engagement efforts to gauge community sentiment before the board approves the bond’s final language for the November ballot.
