D60 needs money to improve aging schools

Almost every school in the Pueblo City School District is more than four decades old. D60 said it doesn’t have the money to fix them all.

Facilities Director Bob Lawson said he deals with the challenges of the old schools at the district almost every day.

“The main thing is the schools are dated,” he said.

Twenty-eight of the 31 schools in D60 are 40 years or older.

Lawson said a few of the problems for most of the schools are they need their ceilings replaced, ventilation systems need to be installed, and the district has high utilities bills because of the old systems at the schools.

The district put a committee together to address its infrastructure needs.

“That’s taking a look at the condition, the estimated repair cost to upgrade our schools, as well as an overall plan on any changes that they foresee in the schools for the future of Pueblo,” he said.

Lawson said it would cost more than $400 million to make all the necessary upgrades for the schools.

He gets about $2 million each year from the district for capital improvements, but he said that’s not enough to make a significant change.

Lawson said he hopes to use grants or money from the state marijuana taxes to help make the improvements.

KRDO NewsChannel 13 took his concerns to State Sen. Leroy Garcia.

The senator said he wants to work with the district to get more money to improve schools. He said capital money is regularly allocated for the type of purposes D60 is facing.

Garcia said lawmakers are in the process of drafting a bill this year to decide how to spend at least $40 million from the marijuana taxes designated for school construction.

D60 is also considering asking voters to raise taxes to help bring in more money for pay raises at the district.