Archuleta School District (ASD) will be going to the voters this fall with a ballot measure relating to funding school facilities, although exactly what that ballot measure will ask voters is still undetermined.
During its regular meeting held on Wednesday Aug. 5, the Board of Education (BoE) unanimously accepted an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with Archuleta and Hinsdale counties for the 2026 election.
BoE member Amanda Schick was absent from the meeting.
Before voting on the matter, BoE president Bob Lynch clarified that by accepting the IGA the district is simply saying that it will go to the ballot this fall, and that the board was not approving specific ballot language at this time.
According to the meeting’s agenda, the IGA between the Archuleta County clerk and recorder and Hinsdale County is a statutory requirement for ASD to be able to participate in the coordinated mail ballot in November. If the IGA is not passed, the district would be solely responsible for running its own school board election.
Superintendent Rick Holt indicated the district has until Sept. 3 to approve the specific ballot language.
He explained that staff will continue to draft potential ballot language for the BoE to approve at its next regular meeting scheduled for 6 p.m. on Sept. 2 in the Pagosa Springs Middle School library at 309 Lewis St.
BEST grant
Prior to voting on the IGA, the board heard an update from Holt in regard to the district’s Building Excellent Schools Today (BEST) grant application.
He explained that the district’s BEST grant representative through the state has indicated the district had a “strong” application this year, even though it was not awarded funds.
Holt also explained that it was expressed to him by the state representative that the state will have “greater [certificate of participation, (COP)] access,” explaining that COPs are used to fund the most expensive and largest capital improvement projects through BEST.
“That bodes well for us,” Holt said, explaining the district had been considered a “COP-worthy” project.
He went on to explain that BEST awarded slightly more than $70 million to communities that still have to pass their bond before receiving funds.
Holt mentioned that it is possible, but not likely, that if those communities are not able to raise their matching funds by approving their bonds, then those funds could become available to ASD.
“We will have needed to pass a bond ourselves if we’re going to capture those dollars,” Holt said.
Holt also explained that if the district asks voters to approve a bond, that impacts their matching amount with the BEST grant.
Each time the district goes to a bond election and it fails, BEST gives an additional 2 percent in matching, Holt explained, noting that is BEST’s way to incentivize districts to pass bonds.
Later in the meeting, Holt indicated that the district’s BEST grant application was ranked highly due to it being a new build project versus renovating an existing building.
“In the BEST world, they prefer a green-field build, if you have the land,” he said.
Current building
During the meeting the BoE also heard from Chief Operations Officer Jason Taylor in regard to the district’s current facilities, recent projects and what the district will need to consider doing in terms of maintenance if it plans to keep students in the existing buildings for more than four or five years.
Taylor explained that the district received a report from RTA Architects which identified critical and important repairs needed at the elementary and middle school facilities.
He mentioned that staff performed a similar review identifying urgent needs prior to looking at RTA’s review in order to make a comparison between the two.
Taylor mentioned that the district has been advised by the Pagosa Fire Protection District that if it plans to keep students in the elementary building for much longer, then the building’s fire system would need to be addressed.
Taylor also mentioned that when comparing the district’s in-house list to RTA’s list of urgent needs, “a number of those could be taken care of in the next five years.”
He noted that if the district is looking to pass a bond this fall, it could still be three to four more years before a new building is completed and open to students, and that if the district plans to go with a longer timeline before opening a new school, then some of these maintenance projects will need to be considered.
Taylor went on to mention that RTA’s projected cost to complete the “urgent and important needs” at the elementary school came out to around $32.7 million, and roughly $25.9 million for the middle school’s maintenance needs, totaling at approximately $59 million.
Taylor commented that the district could get by with “less,” noting RTA’s estimate as sort of the “best-case scenario,” as that includes projects that would improve learning spaces.
Taylor then reviewed the in-house list generated by staff, noting that staff added a few things that were not included in RTA’s report, specifically noting the intercom systems in the buildings being outdated.
He explained that the numbers generated for projects needing to be completed at the elementary and middle school include projects that would need to be taken care of if the district plans to keep students in the buildings for another four or five years.
Taylor noted the projected cost to keep the elementary school running is roughly $11.6 million, with the cost to maintain the middle school coming in at about $5.7 million, totaling approximately $17.4 million between the two campuses.
Taylor commented that those numbers represent the “limping-along scenario.”
He also explained that the cost could average out to roughly $1.7 million per year over 10 years, noting that his budget request for capital improvements last year was $375,000 and just over $500,000 the year before.
Taylor commented that it is difficult for the district to give raises with a tight budget, “and yet we’ll need to more than triple the amount of money for capital improvements.”
Asbestos
During his report, Taylor also spoke about asbestos in the elementary and middle school buildings, noting the district may have to spend around $2 million to have the asbestos in those buildings abated.
He also noted the district could be looking at an additional $1.2 million in asbestos abatement costs due to the “block fill” in the elementary school also testing positive for asbestos.
“If we want to renovate these buildings, the asbestos has to be abated,” Taylor said, explaining that the asbestos is not harmful as long as it is not disrupted and is hidden underneath other materials.
He explained that the middle school building has not received an initial asbestos report and that, depending on the results of that, the district could be facing even more additional costs for asbestos abatement.
Taylor commented that he was presenting the information relating to asbestos abatement costs to make sure the BoE is considering all items when deciding if it wants to renovate buildings and stay in them longer or move out and start building a new facility, “and asbestos is definitely a big piece of it.”
Holt commented that the district should also consider how an asbestos abatement project might affect students, noting that the district could incur extra costs by having to relocate students and rent portable classrooms.
Taylor mentioned a specific situation with two classrooms at the elementary school where the tile underneath the carpet has asbestos.
“Well, that carpet has now wore out,” he said, explaining the strategy is to simply lay another piece of carpet down to keep the asbestos covered up.
He also noted asbestos issues in the district’s “old bus barn,” where the ceiling has caved in, exposing asbestos.
“That absolutely needs to be abated,” he said, noting that the district still uses the building for storage.
Holt offered more comments on the projected costs shared by Taylor, noting that the in-house list with a lower cost would address issues that are “purely mechanical.”
“We still have kids in classrooms with no natural light,” Holt said, adding, “Those kinds of things do impact student outcomes.”
Holt also spoke about how he feels that the amount of time and money needed to properly renovate the existing buildings might be unrealistic.
“It feels to me … that a long-term plan of massive repairs to the school would be unsustainable from an instructional standpoint,” he said, noting there would be constant disruptions to student learning.
Holt also cautioned about the unknowns that come along with major renovation projects, indicating that “it is nothing” like renovating a private residence.
He warned that thinking that spending a little money each year is going to let the district “stay on top of it” with buildings of this size is “unrealistic.”
Holt also addressed comments shared in the district’s poll conducted earlier this summer that suggested the district give teachers raises instead of spending money on a new facility.
“The irony of that statement is, if we don’t get the bond dollars, I will continue to have to use general fund dollars to make these repairs and that will limit the number of raises I can give teachers as the costs escalate to do the repairs,” he said.
Holt added that if the desire is to pay teachers more, “we should get into some new buildings that have much lower maintenance costs.”
When asked by the BoE what the annual maintenance budget for a new kindergarten through eighth-grade campus would be, Holt did not have a specific number, but stated that there would be “significant savings in annual maintenance costs.”
Other concerns brought up by the BoE included the projected life expectancy left with the middle school roof and compliance with the American Disabilities Act at the fifth- and sixth-grade middle school building.
Taylor also clarified that these projected costs did not include any projects at the high school or administration building.
“We need to be careful about just recklessly spending taxpayer money on things [if] we’re not going to be here four years from now,” he said, explaining that if the district knows it will be in these existing facilities for longer, “then there are some items we can no longer push down.”
clayton@pagosasun.com
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