As mentioned on Friday in Part One, the Archuleta School District is currently planning to ask the voters, this coming November, to increase our property taxes. More about that in Part Three.
Colorado public schools have seen a drop in enrollment since 2019, when statewide enrollment hit 913,223 students. This year, the enrollment is listed as 870,793. That’s a decline of about 5%.
The dynamics behind this drop are not entirely clear. Yes, Americans are having fewer babies. Yes, the state of Colorado has been supportive of educational alternatives, such as homeschooling and online “e-learning”. Yes, residents are migrating out of Colorado — in some cases, due to an unsustainable cost of living — and many of those leaving might be our younger working families.
The cost of living has certainly been an issue in southwest Colorado, driven largely by the housing crisis in communities like Durango, Bayfield and Pagosa Springs. All three of these communities have seen declining public school enrollment.
We knew this might happen — back in 2016 — when housing costs were already spiraling upwards. But it took a while to unfold; Archuleta County’s public school enrollment was still increasing up until 2019.
Some folks might find it confusing, therefore, that Archuleta School District (ASD) has been making plans to build a new $125.7 million PreK-8 facility on Vista Boulevard, west of town, to replace the existing (and still functional) Pagosa Springs Elementary School and Pagosa Springs Middle School, both located in downtown Pagosa. In the imaginations of the School Board and staff, the new facility would be funded partly — or entirely? — through a property-tax-funded bond measure.
As I wrote in Part One, I currently serve on the Pagosa Peak Open School board of directors, and my granddaughter attends PPOS. PPOS is a public, tuition-free charter school that receives funding through ASD, but is governed by an independent board. It was founded based upon an innovative educational model known as Project-Based Learning, with a school culture built around Restorative Practices. My daughter Ursala was the founding President of PPOS.
During discussions about a future bond measure, the ASD Board of Education made it clear that certain facility needs at PPOS would be included in any future bond proposal. That’s by way of saying — for “full disclosure” — that “my school” could potentially benefit from any future ASD bond issue, were voters to approve it.
ASD was successful in getting voters to approve a property-tax-funded Mill Levy Override in 2018, and voters made it perpetual in 2023. The MLO provides $1.7 million in annual revenue, primarily used to boost staff salaries. Relatively attractive salaries. Presumably, the 50% salary increase that ASD teachers and staff have seen since 2015 has allowed the District to continue recruiting and retaining highly qualified staff. Staff salaries have been increased in numerous other Colorado school district… in some cases, even higher than staff is paid in Pagosa.
The $53,194 salary earned by a first-year ASD teacher with a BA degree is higher than the $51,500 paid by the Durango School District, for example, and the $51,510 paid by the Colorado Springs District 11. By comparison, the school board in Westminster, Colorado, now pays a starting teacher $64,018.
But salaries are only part of the financial picture for education staff. Another part is the differing cost of living in different communities. A recent report by Region 9 Economic Development District found that a typical family in Archuleta County has a higher cost of living than families elsewhere in southwestern Colorado — higher even than Durango — due mainly to the cost of housing here. From that ‘Living Wage’ report, updated in 2024:
We found that in Region 9, Montezuma County is the least expensive ($91,519 annually), and Archuleta County is the most expensive place to live ($105,919 annually) for a family of four.
Needless to say, I have an continuing interest in a proposal to replace two functional school buildings with a new $126 million facility. For one thing, my property taxes have more than doubled since 2012, and my homeowners insurance has tripled… but my income has barely changed at all.
Our existing school buildings are not overcrowded. Enrollment has been falling, and is predicted to fall further.
Yes, older buildings are plagued by maintenance issues. Even our newest school building — Pagosa Springs High School, built in 1997 — faces some expensive maintenance issues. But I seriously doubt the maintenance issues at the Elementary and Middle schools amount to $125.7 million?
Well, what is the ASD plan for funding a new PreK-8 facility?
If you log on to the Colorado Department of Education website, you can find a link to the BEST (“Building Excellent Schools Today”) program. BEST provides matching grants for public school repairs, upgrades, and replacements. ASD has applied for a $125.7 million replacement facility, and has asked BEST for a $50.3 million matching grant, to be matched by $75.4 million coming from a (yet-to-be-approved) local bond issue. That approval must come from Archuleta County voters.
56 other school districts have also applied for BEST grants this year, with grant requests totaling $542 million. According to a recent news article in the Colorado Sun, the actual BEST budget for the current grant round is less than $70 million.
Of the 57 grant requests this year (you can download the PDF here) only 7 requests are for replacement buildings. The other 50 are for repairs, upgrades and additions to existing buildings… in other words, from districts that are basically ‘making do’ with what they already have.
The BEST CCAB Grant Review meetings will be held May 12-14, 2026. Projects will be rated and prioritized. Relatively few will be chosen for grant funding this year. If ASD is one of them, they will still need to get local voters to approve a property-tax-funded bond measure in November that will include the new PreK-8 facility plus additional funding for repairs and upgrades to other buildings. $80 million? $85 million? I’ve not yet heard a dollar figure suggested.
But a school bond is a loan from private investors, and the taxpayers would owe interest on the loan. So payments on a $80 million bond would actually amount to perhaps $150 million, over the life of the loan…