Pueblo City Schools down to 5 bond options to fix infrastructure problems
Last October, an infrastructure report said that Pueblo City Schools buildings are falling apart. Plus as enrollment continues to drop at many of the district’s schools, less space is being utilized in the schools.
In just the past two days, the district has held four public forums to discuss their final five bond options to solve the infrastructure problem.
“We went from thirty options and narrowed it down to the five options for bond that we are showing today,” said Amy Hurtig-Smith, a Pueblo Architect and Pueblo Central graduate.
Hurtig-Smith assisted MOA Architecture with last year’s report and the district’s buildings.
“The amount of needs for the district is way past what we can cover with a bond,” said Hurtig-Smith. “So we are trying to attack the most of what we could for the project.”
The district and architects had 30 bond options and were able to narrow the field down to just five options after multiple meetings with community stakeholders.
Here are the final five options out by the district:
The first option would replace all 4 current high schools with 2 brand new consolidated high schools, costing around $315 million. On a $100,000 valuation of a property, that would raise property taxes for homeowners by $129 per year, and for commercial property owners by $485 per year.
Options 2 and 3 would replace Pueblo East High School and Pueblo Centennial High School with two new buildings and transition either Pueblo Central High School or Pueblo South High School into middle schools. This would cost around $254 million. On a $100,000 valuation of a property, that would raise property taxes for homeowners by $90 per year, and for commercial property owners by $363 per year.
Options 4 and 5 would keep all four high schools but replace Pueblo East and Pueblo Centennial with new buildings. This would cost taxpayers either $267 million or $291 million depending on the two bonds. On a $100,000 valuation of a property, that would raise property taxes for homeowners by $96 or $109 per year, and for commercial property owners by $389 or $440 per year.
Each bond would also cover priority maintenance issues with many of the elementary, middle, and high schools.
Earlier Wednesday, a handful of students from all four high schools were invited to review the bonds at the administration building. District officials say their voice needs to be heard the loudest through this potential closure process.
“I think it’s good to see all of the students’ perspective from each school, especially now that we have a group of students from each school,” said Pueblo South Sophomore Quinn Zabukovic. “I think that’s a great thing to have.”
“It’s a difficult decision between the two, three, and four high schools,” said Pueblo Centennial Junior Maya Maes-Johnson. “I am leaning towards the option with two schools. It is the most expensive, however, I believe it creates a lot of room for new traditions to be made. It eradicates a lot of the polarization I feel that could happen between four vs three high schools.”
However, none of this matters if voters don’t pass one of these plans. Becky Medina, a parent of a high schooler, thinks the voters can get a bond passed.
“Our community needs to understand that investing in kids means investing in our future,” said Medina. “I am optimistic that we can pass a bond measure to ensure that our high schools will be here for very many years.”
District 60 has until 90 days before the November Election Day to get a bond on the ballot.
The district is working to get all five plans in full detail on their website as soon as possible.
