$10.9M bond on ballot would update school safety

The locker rooms at Cripple Creek-Victor Junior-Senior High School are too small for a football team.

Superintendent Sue Holmes said that when football teams come to play, they get dressed

in a hallway.

Increasing the size of locker rooms and bringing them into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act is just one item that would be paid for by a $10.9 million bond, which voters will decide on as they receive their ballots this week.

The tax increase would pay for basic upgrades to the heating, ventilation, electrical

and plumbing systems, Holmes said, as well as safety upgrades and a roughly 14,500-squarefoot addition.

A smaller addition of less than 2,000 square feet would hold an enclosed stairway and elevator. Now, anyone going between floors must leave the building to go up or down.

The $10.9 million bond breaks down to $1.65 per $100,000 of assessed home value per month, Holmes said.

District officials scaled back their requests after a previous bond question failed in 2004 and 2005, Holmes said. Those plans called for an auditorium or an early childhood development center and came before Holmes was superintendent.

“This one is just looking at the needs of this building,” she said.

The heating units in the lower level of the school are one example.

“Every day we have issues with them,” Holmes said.

Standardizing classroom size to 850 square feet might be the biggest change. The school was built for students in kindergarten through high school, and room size varies accordingly.

“We’ve got high school kids in firstgrade-size rooms,” Holmes said.

Making classrooms bigger would mean pushing locker rooms, the kitchen, and art and music rooms into an addition.

The bond would also address another problem at the secondary school — no way to get from one floor to another without going outside the building.

Junior high students who have a class upstairs or teachers who need to visit the school’s main office to get a message head outside and up the stairs. Those in wheelchairs have a longer trek to find a way around the stairs.

It’s not too bad on a warm fall day, Holmes said, but it’s a different story during a winter blizzard.

During the winter, the stairs need to be shoveled constantly, and there’s always a chance a student or staff member will slip and fall, Holmes said. Having to go outside to reach the stairs also means unsecured entrances and exits because students need to get back in to get to their next classes.

The renovated building would have controlled entry points and security cameras.

The library, which is both a school and public library, would receive a new secure entrance and updated lighting.

Other safety features that would be added are sprinklers and an area in the science lab to secure and prep chemicals for lessons. Holmes said right now that happens in the classroom.

CRIPPLE CREEK-VICTOR SCHOOL DISTRICT RE-1

2006-07 Enrollment: 564 students

Test scores: Scores are typically below state averages, except in third-grade math; seventh- and ninth-grade writing and third-, sixth-, and seventh-grade reading. Scores are the same as the state averages in sixth- and seventhgrade math.

2006-07 demographics: 15 percent minority students; 50 percent qualify for free or reduced-price lunches

The ballot question: Increased taxes would pay for the renovation of Cripple Creek-Victor Junior-Senior High School, as well as a roughly 14,500-square-foot addition to the school.

Total cost: $10.9 million

Cost to taxpayers per month: $1.65 per $100,000 of assessed home value