Brandon Leuallen, The Business Times

As summer approaches, Mesa County Valley School District 51 Chief Operations Officer Clint Garcia said the district is entering the initial stages of Phase 1 of its 25-year Facilities Master Plan.

While some larger projects remain in the design phase, work on a wave of elementary school upgrades is set to begin next week, marking the first execution phase of the long-term improvement strategy voters approved last year.

Some projects ready to begin

These first projects are labeled specifically in the PIP category.

“What we’re calling Priority Improvement Projects, the PIPs, those are all of our elementary schools on the east end of the valley,” Garcia said, adding they include Rocky Mountain, Chatfield, Mesa View, Thunder Mountain, Fruitvale, Orchard Avenue and Nisley.

These elementary school upgrades are slated to be completed before the beginning of the 2025–26 school year.

“Our intent is to have all of that done before the start of this next school year,” Garcia said. “By the time students come back, 98 to 99 percent will be completed. I give you that 2 percent wiggle room just in case something unexpected comes up.”

Long-overdue fixes focus on safety

Some of the most critical improvements happening this summer won’t be immediately visible to the public, but they’re among the most important from a safety perspective. That includes asbestos abatement across multiple elementary schools in the east valley, work that Garcia says should have been done years ago.

“The removal of asbestos in our buildings is a big deal,” Garcia said. “Making those buildings safer and adding fire-suppression systems are things that absolutely need to be done. Of course, those are the kinds of improvements people don’t see, but they matter.”

Many of the upgrades underway, such as classroom remodels, new fire-suppression systems and modernized security measures, are addressing issues that have been needed for a long time.

“A lot of these things have been waiting for years,” Garcia said. “We’re finally able to get to them now, thanks to the community’s support.”

While the elementary-level construction ramps up, planning continues for larger projects at Central High School and Fruita Monument High School.

“We’re still in the design phase and doing some conceptual designs for those buildings right now,” Garcia said. “Physical work won’t start on those until April or May of next year.”

Districtwide safety and security enhancements

One of the biggest early wins, Garcia noted, is the installation of updated security systems across every building in the district, an initiative that was fast-tracked ahead of schedule.

“We were able to secure a company to do all of our security-camera upgrades, door access and visitor-management systems,” Garcia said. “By the start of next school year, every building in the district will have a modernized, hardened security system in place.”

The project replaces outdated analog systems that only stored surveillance footage locally for about 10 days.

“If we didn’t catch something quickly, that data was gone forever,” Garcia said. “Now, with cloud-based systems, we can keep video for 30 days minimum and save it forever if needed.”

Energy efficiency and operational smarts

Parallel to the physical construction projects, the district has also been focused on cutting long-term operational costs through technology and smarter resource management. Facilitron, a building-use and energy-management system, has been implemented to track when and how school facilities are being used and to coordinate heating and cooling systems accordingly.

The district also rents out school buildings during off-hours, which used to result in wasted energy costs beyond the time the facility was being rented.

“If someone’s got a pickup basketball game from 7 to 8 p.m., our system turns the units on during that time and shuts them off right after,” Garcia said. “We used to run buildings until 10 p.m. That’s no longer the case.”

Garcia credited District 51 Facilities Director Keegan Gering for meticulously reviewing utility billing and spotting errors before payments are made.

“That’s a lot of billing to look through, but when Keegan finds an error, we don’t just pay the bill, we get it fixed,” he said.

A community effort

Garcia said the district has remained focused on how it stewards the money from the bond. 

“We are well under budget on our current PIP projects,” Garcia said. “I don’t want to quote an exact number, but we’re talking millions.”

“That savings will be rolled right back into other building needs, things like new HVAC systems or roof replacements that weren’t originally in scope but are badly needed.”

These reinvestments are critical in addressing the district’s estimated $600 million infrastructure deficit.

“Whether it’s a roof that costs over a million dollars or a 40-year-old HVAC unit, every dollar we save goes right back into extending the life and usability of our schools,” Garcia said. “It’s not the flashy stuff, but it’s essential.”

Gratitude for the community’s support remains front of mind for Garcia and his team.

“I’ve been on the support side of education for 30 years,” he said. “Anything we can do that improves a classroom, that makes it better for kids to learn in, I’m all in. And I’m grateful this community has given us the opportunity to do that work.”

Looking ahead

As Phase 1 progresses, Garcia said he’s happy to share ongoing updates, including photos, once work is complete later this summer.

“We’d love to do another update in the fall,” he said. “We’re proud of what we’re building, literally and figuratively.”