News
EAGLE COUNTY, Colorado — Combining certain schools could save the Eagle County School District more than a half million dollars in operational costs each year, new estimates show.
Today, school officials plan to revisit talks on what to do with the old Battle Mountain High School in Eagle-Vail. That discussion will include whether the district should reconfigure schools on its east side. The meeting is set for 2 to 5:30 p.m. at the district office, 757 E. Third St. in Eagle.
By pooling students at Minturn Middle School in Minturn and Meadow Mountain Elementary School in Eagle-Vail at the old Battle Mountain high building, the district could save about $512,000 per year in operational costs, according to estimates the district's staff prepared. Savings include things like snow removal, equipment rental and electricity bills the district could shed by meshing the schools, along with staffing positions the district could combine or eliminate.
By combining students from Minturn Middle, Meadow Mountain and Red Sandstone Elementary in Vail at the old Battle Mountain high, the district could save about $880,000 each year, the estimates show.
As Eagle County school officials wade through at least a dozen options for reconfiguring its schools, new information is surfacing about the cost savings the district could achieve by combining schools. But school board members have been weighing those savings against the price of remodeling schools to accommodate the students, as well as the impact uniting schools could have on local communities.
“If you have smaller schools with fewer students you can offer fewer opportunities: art, music, things like that,” School Board member Ross Morgan said. “The larger schools provide greater funding and more opportunities for better programing. That's the big selling point.”
“That said, it's not comforting to the people who are looking at the potential of losing their neighborhood school.”
Board members are also weighing the money the district could save in the long term by combining schools against more immediate cost of renovating the schools to outfit the students, officials say.
For example, remodeling the old Battle Mountain High into a pre-kindergarten through eighth grade school for Meadow Mountain and Minturn Middle students would cost about $24.2 million, an October estimate showed — a figure most school board members say is too high.
Along with new cost estimates, district staff have prepared enrollment charts showing where students from different schools live.
During today's meeting, board members plan to examine more than a dozen options for reconfiguring schools on the east side of the district.
“I would certainly hope some of those would be eliminated,” Morgan said. “Ideally, if we could get down to a handful, four or five, and go from there, that would be great.”
School board members TJ Johnson, Mark Conlin and Jeanne McQueeney referred questions to board president Connie Kincaid-Strahan.
Staff Writer Sarah Mausolf can be reached at 970-748-2928 or smausolf@vaildaily.com.
Today, school officials plan to revisit talks on what to do with the old Battle Mountain High School in Eagle-Vail. That discussion will include whether the district should reconfigure schools on its east side. The meeting is set for 2 to 5:30 p.m. at the district office, 757 E. Third St. in Eagle.
By pooling students at Minturn Middle School in Minturn and Meadow Mountain Elementary School in Eagle-Vail at the old Battle Mountain high building, the district could save about $512,000 per year in operational costs, according to estimates the district's staff prepared. Savings include things like snow removal, equipment rental and electricity bills the district could shed by meshing the schools, along with staffing positions the district could combine or eliminate.
By combining students from Minturn Middle, Meadow Mountain and Red Sandstone Elementary in Vail at the old Battle Mountain high, the district could save about $880,000 each year, the estimates show.
As Eagle County school officials wade through at least a dozen options for reconfiguring its schools, new information is surfacing about the cost savings the district could achieve by combining schools. But school board members have been weighing those savings against the price of remodeling schools to accommodate the students, as well as the impact uniting schools could have on local communities.
“If you have smaller schools with fewer students you can offer fewer opportunities: art, music, things like that,” School Board member Ross Morgan said. “The larger schools provide greater funding and more opportunities for better programing. That's the big selling point.”
“That said, it's not comforting to the people who are looking at the potential of losing their neighborhood school.”
Board members are also weighing the money the district could save in the long term by combining schools against more immediate cost of renovating the schools to outfit the students, officials say.
For example, remodeling the old Battle Mountain High into a pre-kindergarten through eighth grade school for Meadow Mountain and Minturn Middle students would cost about $24.2 million, an October estimate showed — a figure most school board members say is too high.
Along with new cost estimates, district staff have prepared enrollment charts showing where students from different schools live.
During today's meeting, board members plan to examine more than a dozen options for reconfiguring schools on the east side of the district.
“I would certainly hope some of those would be eliminated,” Morgan said. “Ideally, if we could get down to a handful, four or five, and go from there, that would be great.”
School board members TJ Johnson, Mark Conlin and Jeanne McQueeney referred questions to board president Connie Kincaid-Strahan.
Staff Writer Sarah Mausolf can be reached at 970-748-2928 or smausolf@vaildaily.com.
