Three dates loom on the calendar as the Weld Re-8 School District moves toward a potential bond election in the fall.
The district may ask voters for a $35 million package (about $28 in extra taxes per year on a $100,000 home) to upgrade most of the schools in the district.
Incoming superintendent Alan Kaylor said the district could get some options for improving most of the district’s buildings during a citizens task force meeting June 14.
“The owners’ representative will have been in every building and has listened to the community to find out what the people need,” Kaylor said. “Everyone recognizes the need to address the physical failures of our schools. We have some buildings that are more than 30 years old. We need to make the buildings better and find more learning space for our kids.”
The next date in line is a June 27 meeting. Kaylor said some “rudimentary” designs for a potential new Quest Academy could be presented, plus some ideas of the needs in other schools in the district.
Quest Academy is in the Sweetgrass section of Dacono, but voters there pay taxes to support the Re-8 district.
“Re-8 is east-west more than it extends north-south,” Kaylor said. “It’s a new community without a school. They pay taxes. They vote for things for our schools. We have modulars at Quest, but they need an upgrade.”
The third – and the most important – date is July 25. That’s the scheduled date for the Re-8 school board to decide whether to go forward with the bond election. Ballot language has to be drawn up by August.
In the meantime, the district continues to set up the groundwork.
“We’re trying to draw up a master plan in the district that takes us five to 10 years out in the future,” Kaylor said. “We’re aware of 83 (housing) units that are going in across the street from the (high school) track and of 199 more units that have been platted across the street from the (Hillside) Cemetery.”
The district is using a construction manager in the run-up to a decision. Kaylor said that was a normal practice for districts interested in bond issue packages.
“They are helping us identify needs in the buildings, whether it’s space issues, types of space, things like air circulation and fresh air,” Kaylor said.
The plan is for Re-8 to spend 60 percent of potential bond money on schools in the city of Fort Lupton. Kaylor said Fort Lupton Middle School might not see as much of the money because it’s already had a bond issue windfall more recently than other schools.
“We don’t have a firm understanding (of district needs) from the architect,” Kaylor said. “We’ve said we want to do a master plan that takes us out 10 years. We want to do it right the first time.”
Contact staff writer Steve Smith at ssmith@metrowestnewspapers.com.