Littleton board briefed on up-to-$125M facility, bus and tech needs as bond options discussed

The Littleton Elementary School District board received an initial facilities and financing briefing that examined school roofs, HVAC, plumbing and site improvements, plus technology and transportation needs—and outlined the procedural steps for a possible bond question.

Courtney Pena, the district's lead staff presenter on capital planning, reviewed funding sources available to the district and introduced results from a partial facility assessment performed by McKinstry. The firm's assessment of seven facility categories (roofing, HVAC, plumbing, fire protection, electrical, equipment and site improvements) produced a 10-year estimate of roughly $70 million for the items McKinstry surveyed; Littleton Elementary was the single highest-cost site at roughly $13 million, one presenter said. When district transportation, classroom technology refreshes and security upgrades were added to the planning estimate, the district's high-level estimate reported during the session rose to about $125 million.

Pena reviewed capital funding options and constraints: the district's operating (maintenance and operations) fund covers salaries and daily operations; District Additional Assistance (DAA) or unrestricted capital funds can pay for textbooks, furniture, technology and some building repairs but are formula-limited (the district's DAA allocation can be modest relative to big-ticket projects); the state's Building Renewal Grant (a competitive program) is available but limited and not guaranteed; and debt service (bond proceeds) is the primary mechanism to address large facility backlogs. She also noted the state's recent capital funding litigation and the court's order that the legislature has months to revise capital funding, but officials said that outcome does not create immediate relief for local needs.

Financing advisers from Stifel walked through the election timetable and statutory rules for bonds: the county election calendar requires early notifications and a July resolution in order to place a measure on the November ballot, voter-information pamphlet proofs and translations must be completed in mid-summer, and bond proceeds are legally restricted to capital projects (school buildings, site improvements, equipment, transportation vehicles, and related categories). The board was advised that bond authorizations are binding in amount but that project-level categorization can include up to a 10% flexibility window after voter approval.

The district also heard from polling consultant Paul Yuland (Primary Consultants), who summarized voter demographics and historic turnout: roughly 29,000 registered voters are in the district, about 18,000 voted in the 2024 presidential election and about 9,600 voted in the 2022 gubernatorial election. Yuland said the district has historically achieved high approval rates for local measures but recommended targeted polling of likely voters on specific project lists and tax-rate scenarios before any call for election. He told trustees, "your community has just been very very supportive" in recent cycles, but that changes in the political environment warrant careful testing.

District staff said they will present refined polling and a recommended bond amount to the board on May 12 for deliberation; if the board chooses to call an election, the recommended next steps include finalizing a capital-project table for the voter pamphlet, working with election counsel and county staff on deadlines, and advancing a public-information process that is limited to factual information from the district.