Brandon Leuallen, The Business Times

Mesa County Valley School District 51 continues to advance its 25-year Facility Master Plan, a comprehensive roadmap initiated in 2023 to address the district’s long-term infrastructure needs.

At the Grand Junction Economic Summit on April 25, District 51 Superintendent Brian Hill discussed the district’s success in developing the facility master plan as a way to communicate with the community, provide updates on capital funding needs and establish a consistent approach to securing and responsibly utilizing funding for the projects.

Origin of the 25-year plan

In the summer of 2023, District 51 hired Hord Coplan Macht (HCM), an architectural and planning firm, to develop a long-range facility master plan. The decision was driven by the need to identify and address an unknown quantity of maintenance and infrastructure needs across the district.

“When Clint Garcia started in his position, there was no comprehensive facility plan,” District 51 board member Angela Lema said. “There were some partial plans for some of the facilities, but nothing that showed the big picture. We spoke about it, and he and Superintendent Hill came up with a plan specifically for this, and they’ve done an excellent job.”

Lema said Hill and Garcia started in their current positions in July 2022, about 6 months after she had been elected to the board.

According to District 51’s facilities master plan, the assessments conducted by the consultants evaluated the condition, educational adequacy and utilization of nearly all of the district’s 3 million square feet of building space and 46 schools and programs. The district’s facilities range in age, with the oldest built in 1903 and the newest completed in 2024. On average, the buildings are just over 42 years old.  

“We had schools that still lacked secure entrances. If you can walk right into the front of some of our schools, there’s no vestibule, it’s not OK for our kids.” Hill said

Their work culminated in a prioritized list of initiatives with safety and security improvements, deferred maintenance and enhancements for special education and preschool programs topping the list and about $585 million of needs over the 25-year period into the future.

The committee’s recommendations were presented to the District 51 administration and school board in the fall of 2024, setting the stage for a voter-approved $190 million bond and mill levy in November 2024.

The plan consists of five phases, and the initial funding supports Phase 1, targeting the most critical needs, including safety upgrades and major renovations at Central High School and Fruita Monument High School.

Local funding for the plan has been particularly important for District 51, one of Colorado’s lowest-funded school districts per student, facing longtime shortfalls from the state. Board President Andrea Haitz said the state has withheld approximately $250 million from the district since 2009 due to the budget-stabilization factor, which can reduce funding by up to $20 million in certain years.

Transparency and fiscal responsibility

One major goal of the facility master plan is to provide a publicly accessible, long-range plan that allows residents to track progress and understand the condition of their schools.

“These properties belong to the community, and they have a right to know what’s coming up,” Lema said.

Another key objective is ensuring fiscal responsibility by finishing projects under budget, allowing savings to be rolled into subsequent efforts.

“These are taxpayer dollars. It’s the people’s money. We have to make them stretch as far as we can,” Lema said.

As a board member and committee participant, she said she is actively involved in the process. Lema also underscored that while cost cutting is important, maintaining quality remains a top priority.

“We talk a lot about needs versus what would be nice. Like, do we need something, or would it just be nice to have it? We don’t have the luxury of creating luxury. We’ve got to have functionality,” she said.

Additional funding strategies

Lema said the district is pursuing grants to help fund additional phases, and Hill said that selling unneeded parcels of land is another strategy to put money back into the capital budget. With project savings, grant funding and land-sale proceeds, Lema said some Phase 2 projects might be able to be pulled into Phase 1 to keep the process moving.

Grand Junction High School, a separate project planned under a previous superintendent and board, was funded through a different bond. 

Lema said that while that project came in under budget, the district will not redirect those funds to other capital needs. Instead, the savings will be returned to taxpayers through a reduced levy following project completion.

Hill said that with declining enrollment, the district has addressed some capital and general fund challenges by consolidating and closing schools.

Broader cost-saving measures

Outside of capital projects, Lema said the district is working to control costs through measures such as leaving certain administrative positions unfilled and focusing on energy conservation. She credited Facilities, Energy and Resource Conservation Manager Keegan Pfeiffer for leading conservation efforts that resulted in $400,000 of savings in 2024, with an estimated $600,000 of savings projected for 2025.

For more information on the 25-Year facility master plan, visit the School District 51 website at www.d51schools.org.