Haxtun School District announces plan to upgrade facilities

The Haxtun Board of Education has unanimously approved a plan to move forward with a Colorado BEST Grant to make significant improvements to Haxtun School District’s aging facilities. Most of the improvements focus on Haxtun Elementary’s 1962 building and on the Vo-Ag shop currently located just north of the school facility.

Additions and renovations to the existing school to include:

• New Vo-Ag/ CTE space;

• New elementary and early childhood classrooms;

• New elementary/ auxiliary gym, locker rooms and weight room; and

• New centrally-located, shared-space including media arts center, kitchen and cafeteria.

The BEST Grant and match will also pay for demolition of the existing elementary school wing, admin area, cafeteria, kitchen, small elementary gym, and existing Vo-Ag shop building.

A team composed of district staff and community members has worked diligently, beginning late last winter, alongside architects and engineers to assess the buildings and develop a list of deficiencies. Many of these deficiencies are health and safety concerns. From the list of concerns, the team created a list of options to upgrade the facilities. The options selected will address the greatest deficiencies and help provide the best education possible for Haxtun’s students.

In order for the project to be funded the district must submit a competitive BEST Grant. If the BEST Grant is successful, the district must provide funds to support a match to the BEST Grant dollars. The match is not necessarily a 1:1 match and will be greatly dependent on new assessed valuation figures that will be released by county officials later this month.

A Bond issue to be voted on this November will be required to raise enough money to provide the match. The match will be calculated using the new assessed valuation information. More information will become available as that assessed valuation data is released from the four counties encompassed by the Haxtun School District. It is important to note that the BEST Grant is highly competitive, as facility needs across Colorado are immense. The Haxtun Board of Education has chosen to issue a bond question to demonstrate the community’s support for improving facilities. Bond dollars will not be collected until the BEST Grant is successful.