The St. Vrain Valley School District likely will ask voters to approve a tax increase in 2016, even though students might be “rubbing elbows” by then, as board president John Creighton put it Wednesday.
The district expects to need a new elementary school, a new kindergarten-through-eighth-grade school and additions to existing schools as residential growth and thus enrollment increases. The district has estimated that 3,000 more students will be enrolled in St. Vrain by 2018.
District construction manager Brian Lamer presented during the school board meeting a draft bond program that would focus on increasing security in the elementary schools, accommodating growth and meeting capital needs, particularly replacing roofs.
The 2008 bond of $189 million provided for building a new Frederick High School and Red Hawk Elementary School in Erie, remodeling Skyline High School and other projects. Smaller projects such as replacing roofs and heating/ventilation systems were not included, chief operations officer Rick Ring pointed out.
District staff members expect to complete a bond program review by the end of 2015, Lamer said. Then the district will create a bond review committee that includes community members, survey residents and host community meetings before it finalizes the bond question that voters will see.
Contact Times-Call staff writer Victoria Camron at 303-684-5226 or vcamron@times-call.com
