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Charter school asks to be included in district bond with $1M–$2M facility requests
Summary
Emily, representing PPOS, asked the Archuleta County School District No. 50 Jt board to include upgrades to the school's 6,900-square-foot unused warehouse in a potential bond. She presented three funding levels (roughly $1M, $1.7M and $2M) to add multipurpose/gym and lab space and to replace HVAC systems; no decision was made.
Emily, representing PPOS, told the Archuleta County School District No. 50 Jt board that the charter school should be included in any future bond measure because it has unused building space and pressing infrastructure needs.
She described a three-tiered request. The first tier would convert about 6,900 square feet of warehouse space into usable school areas — a multipurpose/gym-type area and maker spaces — and was presented as the board’s primary priority. A second tier would add an HVAC fan-coil replacement for the main school footprint (Emily said that estimate is about $630,000) and, combined with the warehouse conversion, would bring the level-two ask to approximately $1.7 million. The third, full-investment level was presented as about $2 million and would address electrical-capacity limits and include a recommended solar PV system to support expanded electrical loads.
Emily cited data gathered from staff and families to justify the request: she said a staff survey showed “78% of our staff gave our building an above average rating for safety” and that 65% identified a gymnasium or large group space as a priority. She also told the board that the school’s October counts were 106 two years ago, 129 this year, and that enrollment is projected at about 148 for next year.
Board members pressed on feasibility and duplication. A board member noted structural pillars in the warehouse would prevent a full traditional gym and said a past ballpark estimate to create a full gym in that space had been much higher (about $5 million), a point Emily acknowledged. Another member raised the potential for overlapping services with a proposed regional workforce center and cautioned the board to avoid duplicating specialized equipment or programs.
A member of the public who signed up for comment (recorded as "Bill Hson") urged the board to delay taking a large bond request to voters given current economic conditions and warned that consultants’ ballot-language testing could show a districtwide figure of $150 million; the board thanked the speaker for his remarks and noted those concerns would be considered as planning continues.
No formal vote was taken on including PPOS in a bond measure. District staff said the presentation would be added to polling and planning materials; the board indicated it would consider the school’s request if a bond measure moves forward to voters. The board did not set a timeline or specific funding allocation at the meeting’s close.
Ending: The board left the PPOS request as a discussion item and asked staff to include the proposals in ongoing planning materials and any bond polling; there was no final decision or inclusion vote at this meeting.
