District outlines multiyear plan to add air conditioning to 30 schools; financing options include bond reserves, budget shifts and certificates of participation

Poudre School District officials presented a multiyear plan Oct. 21 to add mechanical cooling to roughly 30 schools that currently lack it, prioritizing middle schools and describing a combination of budget shifts, remaining bond reserves and possible debt tools to pay for the work.

Dave Montoya, the district’s chief financial officer, told the board that the 2024 “debt free mill levy” provided new capacity to address deferred maintenance and that staff have identified $1.2 million currently unallocated that could be applied to air conditioning projects. Montoya reviewed the levy’s mechanics: voters approved a roughly $49 million override in November 2024 that grows with inflation (Montoya said the 2025–26 figure is about $50 million after inflation adjustments), and the district repurposed roughly $21.5 million in general fund spending to free up resources for compensation, small‑school supports and deferred maintenance.

Montoya said the district currently lists 22 elementary sites, five middle schools and three nontraditional/k‑12 sites (Polaris, PCA and…