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Facilities task force leans toward consolidating two elementary campuses to improve utilization
Summary
Superintendent William Hawkins told the Silver Consolidated Schools Board on May 19 that a 25-member feasibility task force is nearing a recommendation to consolidate two elementary campuses to improve facility utilization and reduce deferred-maintenance burdens.
Superintendent William Hawkins told the Silver Consolidated Schools Board on May 19 that a facilities feasibility task force is nearing a recommendation to consolidate two elementary campuses to address declining enrollment and underused buildings.
Hawkins said the task force of roughly 25 representatives reviewed data on enrollment, building capacity, and facility condition and reached a strong consensus in favor of consolidating two campuses and exploring grade-banding as one option. "Approximately 89% of the people in that room, at the end of that vote... recognized that we do need to consolidate two campuses," Hawkins said.
The task force discussed options including traditional consolidation and "grade banding," where cohorts of the same grades would be housed together (for example, K'2, 3'5 at separate sites). Hawkins said planners discussed boundary adjustments to address long-standing anomalies, such as students in Arenas Valley being routed past nearby schools to attend a different campus. Hawkins said the committee is also considering sending sixth graders back to La Plata Middle School as a way to relieve underutilization at both elementary and middle grades; he said the room poll on that question showed about 85% support among participants.
Hawkins said the plan under discussion would not take effect immediately. "This will not happen next year. This will happen in the 2026-27 school year," he told the board, and said the district intends to spend the next year planning boundaries, classroom allocations, staffing and communications. Board members pressed for clarity that consolidation is about facilities utilization and not a directive to increase class sizes; Hawkins reiterated the focus on building and maintenance costs rather than classroom staffing levels.
Board members and staff also discussed financial implications: staff reported potential operational and deferred-maintenance savings per site in the millions (presentations cited a range that district staff summarized as "10 to 20,000,000 per site" in avoided capital and repair costs). Hawkins said the district has contracted professional analyses and that the Public School Capital Outlay Council (PSCOC) or Public School Facilities Authority (PSFA) could be partners if the board asks PSCOC/PSFA to consider funding requests tied to a final feasibility recommendation.
Hawkins said the task force will meet again and present a final compendium of recommendations and data for the board to act on. If the board adopts consolidation recommendations, administrators said they will use the 2025-26 school year to plan and notify families before any changes take effect in 2026-27.
No final board action on consolidation was taken on May 19; the feasibility group planned an additional meeting to finalize options and implementation steps.
