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Any discussion of developing a new system for funding school
district capital needs in Colorado must begin with the fact
that the current system is broken, not sustainable and is
producing serious health and safety problems in school buildings
across Colorado.
- Arickaree School District in rural Washington County has
one building for its 104 students. When it rains, water
drains into the front doors of the building and the roof
leaks. The plumbing system periodically backs up into the
cafeteria.
- In El Pso County's fast-growing Falcon School District,
students attend class in 100 trailers. One middle school
shuffles students through the cafeteria in six lunch shifts,
beginning at 10:15 and ending at 1:15.
- Buffalo School District in Logan County has one elementary
school. Students have had to be moved during CSAP testing
because the roof leaks, and classes are held on the school
stage. The heating system fails several days each winter,
and wastewater from the plumbing periodically backs up into
the building.
Districts across Colorado -- large and small, urban and rural,
wealthy and poor -- are struggling to keep up with their construction
needs. To better understand the condition of K-12 schools across
Colorado, the Donnell-Kay Foundation sponsored a wide-reaching
assessment project. What we found was disturbing.
- A quarter of school buildings are functionally inadequate.
- Nearly a third of elementary schools and one out of every
five middle and high schools are too small.
- One-third of high schools have inadequate science facilities,
and one-third are technologically inadequate.
The project estimated the total backlog of school construction
and maintenance needs at between $5.7 billion and $10 billion.
Yet most Colorado school districts aren't able to raise the
money they need to address their school capital construction
needs.
Colorado's neighbors Arizona, New Mexico and Wyoming all
provide for substantial state funding of their states' school
buildings.
Without a significant commitment of state revenue in the
near future, Colorado's school construction problem is only
going to get worse. We can't sit by and watch as Colorado's
public schools crumble in front of us.
Download the full site
assessment report: Colorado
School Facility Assessment
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