District unveils 50-year capital plan and 10-year priorities; board asks for executive summaries

The Salt Lake City School District presented a consolidated long‑range capital plan on Jan. 20 that merges vendor reports (including McKinstry data) with in‑house condition assessments to show maintenance and replacement needs across the district.

Isaac Gastill, executive director of auxiliary services, showed a condition‑scoring framework and described a chart builder that can produce 10‑year expenditure views for each school. He said the full 50‑year list currently contains projects that, if fully funded, would exceed available resources and that staff hope to narrow realistic annual spending to a $15–$20 million range. Gastill acknowledged some data lags and a small number of spreadsheet anomalies that staff will correct before publishing public-facing summaries.

Board members requested: a one‑page executive summary per school, a clearer explanation of the 'equity impact score' column that currently reads 'nonapplicable' in the draft, a replacement-versus-refurbish decision framework (sometimes called "rebuild vs. repair"), and closer integration with forthcoming demographic forecasts so capital choices align with student projections. Several members also urged rapid, transparent work on three closed properties (Hawthorne, Bennion, Jackson) that still accrue costs while vacant; staff said they expect to select a vendor for real‑estate/financial analysis in the coming weeks and that vendor work could take two to six months.

Gastill and finance staff said sustainability and water‑use reductions are part of the planning, and that the district has already reduced more than 1,000,000 gallons across its portfolio through recent projects. The board asked staff to return with synthesized recommendations and prioritized 10‑year proposals for board consideration.