Amid long-term planning, Summit School District officials are weighing what course of action will best support teachers and students while maintaining a financially healthy district over the next decade.

While no official decisions have been made, options include a potential consolidation of elementary schools and potential bond or mill levy override ballot measures. Ahead of hosting community discussions on the matters, the Board of Education reviewed what mechanisms were at their disposal as the district faces current and expected future funding pressures at a Sept. 4 meeting.

Superintendent Tony Byrd said feedback from the district’s failed $195 million bond measure showed many community members wanted to see emphasis on master plan planning and determining long-term goals. He said the master plan is a “living” document with the ability to be altered if situations change.

“We’re trying to balance out our values and some pragmatic realities given money, and we will continue to be very engaged with preparing for the future for our students, while being fiscally sustainable,” he said. 

To carry out long-term planning, the district brought on Western Demographics Inc. to conduct a demographic and enrollment report. The report demonstrated the district will likely see a drop in enrollment over the next several years based on declining birth rates in the county and state. Byrd said they are already seeing enrollment rates drop more quickly than originally anticipated, and this matters because state funding is tied to enrollment numbers.

Additionally, the district brought on HCM Consultants to do a preliminary assessment on the condition of school buildings. 

The preliminary assessment on the condition of the buildings gave Silverthorne Elementary School and Summit Middle School “A” grades. It gave Summit High School, Frisco Elementary School, Dillon Valley Elementary School, Upper Blue Elementary School and Summit Cove Elementary School “B” grades. Snowy Peaks Jr/Sr. High School received a “C” grade, and Breckenridge Elementary School scored an “F.”

District staff members worked with the board to narrow down the school consolidation recommendations, which were made by consultants based on this data, and landed on four options. One proposes consolidating Frisco Elementary School into Summit Cove Elementary School and another proposes consolidating Breckenridge Elementary School into Upper Blue Elementary. Consolidating Frisco Elementary into Upper Blue Elementary was also proposed along with consolidating Summit Cove Elementary School into both Silverthorne Elementary School and Dillon Valley Elementary School. Consolidations could include school expansions, as well. 

Chief financial officer Kara Drake said consolidations will not happen this year, or even the following year, and there’s much more community engagement to be sought ahead of any decisions. 

Board member Chris Guarino worried about only having four options. He said he didn’t know what the right approach was, but he hoped people would get to choose where their student went because school choice is legal in Colorado. 

“As a Frisco parent, I just think it’d be cruel to ask anyone to go to Summit Cove or Upper Blue,” he said.  “To go to Upper Blue at 3:50 p.m. when skier traffic is getting out, it just seems cruel.”

He added he had heard from Breckenridge officials that they don’t want to see an influx of vehicles on Airport Road, where Upper Blue Elementary is located, because the road is already busy enough.

He said he would think Frisco residents would rather send their children to an elementary school in the north end of the county instead. 

Board member Johanna Kugler said it would be helpful for the district to provide some cost estimates when engaging the public on the matter so they understand the tangible impacts as taxpayers. 

She also wondered if grade configuration, or rearranging what grades attend what schools, was worth having a conversation about. For instance, an option previously on the table was to make Breckenridge Elementary School teach preschool through second grade and Upper Blue Elementary School to teach third through fifth grade. Board member Gayle Jones Westerberg said she would not be opposed to further looking into reconfiguration of grades, but she noted it would require a lot of research that could take years. 

Board member Vanessa Agee said it would be important to have an open and transparent process with the community to show the work going into these recommendations. She and Guarino advocated for a coming up public engagement process the community could and would want to participate in. Board president Consuelo Redhorse said she would appreciate the district keeping the door open for the community to bring them more ideas. 

President of the Summit County Education Association Joe Kassay said the association does not have a stance on the matter yet since no decision has been made, but it encourages the district to do ample public outreach ahead of any decisions. 

Potential consolidation of schools is not something that would appear on a ballot, Byrd said, adding that it would be up to the board. Something voters could see on a ballot is a mill levy override or a bond measure. Director of Communication Kerstin Anderson said the district is looking for ways to instill financial and operational sustainability given statewide funding pressure and anticipated local enrollment decreases, which could also impact the funding the school receives from the state.

“Because of declining enrollment and budget challenges, federal government cuts and state cuts, et cetera, we do have a real question about how we’re going to afford to pay people a living wage,” Byrd said. “So that will lead to the potential conversation around whether or not to ask for the mill levy override.”

Byrd said it is unclear whether a bond will appear on a future ballot, but the district received feedback after the failed bond measure demonstrated people valued the safety and maintenance of facilities, which is what a bond would support. He said a mill levy override could support salaries and staffing, but not facilities.  

If the district chose to put a mill levy override on a future ballot, it would be the last one they could do because they would reach the limit set by the state. 

Anderson said there will be community conversations on Oct. 8, Nov. 12 and Dec. 17 on these matters.