AURORA | Aurora Public Schools officials detailed a capacity crisis in the district and laid out possible solutions during the Board of Education’s regular meeting this week.
Buildings across the district are over capacity, district officials explained during a meeting that included discussions from finance officials, parents, principals and district employees Dec. 3. Proposed solutions ranged from purchasing new mobile classrooms to year-round schedules, options outlined at a series of community meetings last month. District officials also discussed plans with APS committees, Buckley Air Force Base officials and employees from specific schools.
According to APS Chief Operating Officer Anthony Sturgis, 65 percent of the district’s elementary and P-8 schools are at 90 percent of total capacity. What’s more, enrollment in APS is set to increase by 1 to 2 percent annually for the next three years.
The combination of full buildings and the demands of growing enrollment translate into a crisis at buildings like Fulton Elementary school and even Vista PEAK P-8 Exploratory.
“What clearly is not an option is (doing) nothing,” said APS Superintendent Rico Munn.
Munn and the district’s leadership team recommended specific measures to address the crisis, a plan that includes the construction of a new P-8 school at East Sixth Avenue and Airport Boulevard. Since the district dismissed the idea of a bond question on the ballot until 2016 at the earliest, funding for a new building would have to come through Certificates of Participation.
Essentially, the COPs would let the district take on debt without voter approval. Under this debt option, the new building would be used as collateral in a lease agreement. The district would pay interest payments for the first five years, and could take a bond issue to the voters to start paying the principal amount after 2016. Officials tabbed yearly interest payments at about $1.4 million.
The district has used COPs for building improvements in the past, including renovations to Central High School in 1988.
The new P-8 would address capacity issues at one of the district’s newest schools, Vista PEAK Exploratory P-8. The building opened in 2010 following a successful bond election in 2008. But Melanie Moreno, the school’s director, said the building is already at capacity.
“I’m definitely in support of the building of the new school. The growth cannot continue at the rate it’s gone,” Moreno said. “We are at capacity now … We are literally out of space.”
The team also recommended a different use for $2.4 million in 2008 bond dollars currently earmarked for improving Mrachek Middle School’s existing cafeteria and kitchen. Instead, the district would use that money to design a new building at the Mrachek site and buy new mobile classrooms. The plan would also call for transferring $2.2 million in bond savings into the district’s bond mobile account.
Representatives from the district’s Bond Oversight, District Accountability and Long Range Facilities Planning committees all voiced approval for the recommendations, as did officials from Buckley Air Force Base and Mrachek Middle School.
“We agree with the changes,” said Karen Porter, a member of the District Accountability Committee. “Why waste money on redevelopment and design?” she added, referring to the current plans for rebuilding the kitchen and cafeteria at Mrachek, an aging building.
While presenters voiced support for the recommendations, other district employees pointed out that the proposed fixes are not permanent solutions. Tollgate Elementary School Principal Laurie Goodwin said her school has been over capacity for the past seven years, adding that up to 400 students have had to function in mobile classrooms.
“I still do not see a plan for buildings at 100 percent (capacity) or more,” Goodwin said.
Munn said the recommendations won’t address capacity issues at all of the buildings in the district.
“It won’t be a long-term fix,” Munn said. “It will be a fix for a window of time.”
The board is set to vote on the options during its meeting Dec. 17.
The meeting this week saw the swearing-in of three new members, following a delay after close election results in November. Amber Drevon, Eric Nelson and Barbara Yamrick officially took their posts on the board. The board also approved the election of the following officers: JulieMarie Shepherd as president, Cathy Wildman as vice president, Dan Jorgensen as treasurer and Mary Lewis as secretary.
Reach reporter Adam Goldstein at 720-449-9707 or agoldstein@aurorasentinel.com
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