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 Centennial Annex) as lacking mechanical cooling. He told the board staff are prioritizing schools that have no mechanical tempering or have higher occupant density — notably middle schools — and that the next projects targeted for summer 2026 are Weber and Lesher middle schools.

Montoya ran through four funding “levers” the district can combine or use independently: reallocating a portion of the capital/large‑projects budget to AC; drawing down remaining bond reserves from the 2016 program and recent project closeouts (Montoya said roughly $20.21 million in reserves/closeouts are potentially available); deferring inflationary increases on some maintenance categories for several years; and issuing additional debt such as voter‑authorized general obligation bonds or certificates of participation (COPs).

On COPs, Montoya said the district’s underwriter estimated that each $1 million of annual debt service could support roughly $14 million in COP borrowing; his sample financial model assumed issuing two COP packages later in the plan to help reach an illustrative $110 million of AC funding over a 15‑year window. Montoya emphasized the district can vary timing and scale — for example, spreading smaller COP issuances across years rather than issuing a single large package.

Board members asked for clarifications about cost estimates and capacity. Montoya said the preliminary cost assumptions draw on prior McKinstry studies and that the design‑build teams selected for Weber and Lesher will provide more detailed Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) estimates during the design phase. He also said the district prefers a phased, multiyear approach so work fits within short summer windows and to reduce risk.

On contracting, PSD selected two design‑build teams through RFP 2670004. Weber Middle School’s team includes Franzen & Pittman with PEC (engineering) and DA Modeling (architecture/modeling). Lesher Middle School’s team is led by Saunders Construction working with PEC and DA Modeling. Saunders and Franzen & Pittman described phased approaches: target cooling for the most‑dense classroom wings in summer 2026 and defer long‑lead electrical service upgrades and larger switchgear work to later phases to allow procurement lead times and to minimize the amount of work attempted in any single summer.

Montoya and project teams identified other practical steps: early equipment procurement where appropriate, coordination with the local utility on transformers and switchgear lead times, and using technology (drones, 3D laser scanning) during preconstruction to reduce unexpected conditions that can delay short summer schedules.

Board members asked about trade capacity, procurement timing and community impacts (including bell‑times and how later elementary or middle school end times could interact with building heat). Montoya said the administration will present GMPs and contract amendments to the board as scopes are finalized and that financing choices will be timed to match work the district is able to complete.

The board did not take an immediate vote on funding beyond routine approvals; Montoya said the presentation was informational and that specific contract awards or GMPs would return to the board for action.