The Poudre School District R-1 Board of Education voted unanimously Jan. 14 to authorize staff to execute a construction contract with Long Building Technology to install a new building automation system at Fort Collins High School.

District officials and board members said the $3,100,000 project replaces an outdated control system and was moved into the summer 2025 schedule after a boiler failure and because voters approved measure 4A, which expanded the district’s ability to fund proactive facility work.

Superintendent Brian Kingsley said the automation system standardizes control of heating, ventilation and electrical systems across district facilities and supplies the district with more granular building data. “We don't wanna … wait for them to fail and then replacing them in the moment, which is a big part of why we did 4A,” Kingsley said, arguing that the measure lets the district be proactive about deferred maintenance.

Chief Financial Officer Dave Montoya, who answered detailed procedural and technical questions during the discussion, described the automation system’s role: it gives staff centralized, graphical access to mechanical and electrical system data across large buildings so the district can monitor performance and plan maintenance. “By standardizing to a building automation system across the district, it allows us to … manage those systems on a much better level,” Montoya said.

Montoya told the board that the McKinstry facility study had identified Fort Collins High School’s automation as a high-priority replacement, and that a boiler failure this fall made the work urgent. He said the district is replacing the failed boiler and the other two boilers in the building as part of concurrent work to realize efficiencies.

Board members pressed staff on procurement safeguards. Director Carolyn Reed asked whether a performance bond requirement in the draft contract (page 26) had been removed; staff said they would confirm the contract language and follow up before execution. Montoya said he would check with general counsel and staff before signing.

Motion and vote: The board approved the expenditure and contract execution authorization in a roll-call vote that recorded seven ayes: Jim Brokish, Kristen Draper, Connor Duffy, Kevin Havela, Carolyn Reed, Scott Schoenbauer and Jessica Zamora.

The district plans to begin construction in summer 2025. Officials said design and coordination will align the automation replacement with boiler replacements to reduce disruption and capture cost efficiencies made possible by the district’s recent bond/millage measure.