What Does Bond Funding Address?

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Addressing safety, overcrowding and maintenance at all GWSD campuses is this bond’s purpose.  

Our schools are safe, and new industry standards developed after our schools were built suggest we could make them safer. Every entrance needs safety improvements based on evolving industry school safety standards. 

With a consistent growth rate within our schools, we need better long-term solutions. CBCS is beyond capacity and uses six modular classrooms. CBCS building improvements will increase student capacity by 33%. There is also a need for a larger cafeteria/auditorium space at Gunnison Community School. Flexible teaching spaces are also needed. 

The district is responsible for taking care of its school buildings and seeks to have comfortable learning environments while being mindful of energy consumption and costs. Proactive maintenance is often less expensive than emergency maintenance.  

These needs will not go away and would need to be addressed in a future bond. It is likely to cost more in the future.

Upon evaluation of community feedback, a revised scope from the 2021 draft plan is being pursued to address anticipated key needs for the next 10 to 15 years. 

Gunnison Watershed School District is on a 10–15-year bond cadence cycle, with the last bond being pursued in 2008 and one prior in 1995. 

Yes. Current plans provide expanded facilities for more robust career preparation opportunities. These include facility updates for culinary, hospitality, manufacturing, and nursing facilities.  

$40 million for all 178 school districts in the state is awarded annually. This competitive funding has helped fund portions of past GWSD projects through BEST Grants.

It is your choice to determine if this bond positively or negatively impacts you. Research proves there is a direct correlation between strong schools and stronger communities. Public education is a cornerstone in the United States. The primary tool the state of Colorado has to build schools is bonding via property taxes.  

The bond appeared on the November 2022 ballot. Projects are expected to kick off in mid-2023.

Over 80% of the GWSD annual operating budget goes to funding teacher and staff salaries and benefits. Roughly 18% goes to day-day operations throughout multiple campuses (utilities, supplies, technology, custodial services, transportation, and more) and about 1% goes to ongoing maintenance. Our entire operating budget is about $24.5 million; long-term, proactive, large-scale facility needs  must be funded by bonds. To save up for the current $95 million in facility needs, we would have to cease operations of all schools for four years. 

The 2008 bond will be paid off in 2033. We need a new bond to address critical needs regarding safety, maintenance, overcrowding, and vocational education. Bonds, similar to mortgages, are typically paid off over 25 years. Growth in the school district has necessitated facility expansion and improvement every 10-15 years. We passed bonds in 1995 and 2008 (14 years ago).  

A single stall restroom is a multi-use bathroom that allows anyone needing a bit more privacy, for whatever reason, an option other than our multi-stall bathrooms. This might be teachers, students embarrassed to use the bathroom at school, an aide working with a child with a disability, families during events at school, and so forth. These types of single stall restrooms are popular at restaurants and retail stores as they meet the needs of so many. 

There are not detailed designs for any of the improvements yet as these are what are called conceptual plans. Detailed plans will come once we secure funding for the project. Urinal screens are simply partitions between urinals.

25 years.

Yes, however we seek to maximize use of our existing campus as this is the most cost-effective way to accommodate growth before expanding to an additional campus. Maintaining all services on one campus means we are not duplicating services and facilities (gyms, lunchrooms, kitchens, administrative costs) before absolutely necessary due to growth.

Everyone’s tax bill differs. The increase in property tax for a residential property owner would be $199.12 annually per $500k of actual home value (as determined by the assessor). If property values increase, the number of mills assessed for the bond decreases so that a fixed amount of money (up to $9.4 million annually) is collected to repay the bond. Should a residential property valued at $500,000 today increase in value, say to $750,000, that property would still pay approximately $200 per year for the bond.
 

Over the past 18 years, the school district has saved taxpayers over $7.3 million dollars in bond costs through refinancing and is one of 15 districts in the state with a AA2 bond rating. Two BEST grants have saved the district nearly $1 million in replacing roofs at both Gunnison Community School and Crested Butte Community School.

The school board sets a budget annually that reviews programs for need and efficiency. We are constantly finding ways to prioritize spending for staff retention and student success. Savings in programs are not adequate to address facility needs. For example, our entire athletic spending for fiscal year 2023 is $541,000. Our facility needs are currently $95,000,000.