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2024 Bond: The Future is Summit Schools

The Summit School District Board of Education is  placing bond question on the November 5, 2024 ballot. If approved by voters, the additional funding will support the district’s highest priority needs, including building maintenance, teacher and staff housing, career and technical education, and teacher and staff retention. 

The proposed bond investments will prioritize housing to support teacher and staff recruitment and retention; critical building maintenance across the district; investments in career and technical education through a dedicated Career and Technical Education Innovation Center; as well as safety, security and technology improvements. 

Read the pages/links below for additional information about these priority areas and how the district will invest community resources to support students, families, teachers and staff. Click the image below to view the 2024 Bond Initiative flyer.

First page of the PDF file: Proposed2024BondInitiative_1

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Career and Technical Education (CTE) Innovation Center.
Future-Ready Students- Job Ready Job Skills in High Demand Career Sectors

  • Develop a CTE  Innovation facility to support exceptional learning environments with high-quality, hands-on classrooms  that will open pathways for employment in high demand jobs locally and statewide.

  • Provide the education that today’s students will need for tomorrow’s jobs and careers, including access to Future-Ready Pathways such as Healthcare, Business/Mktg/Entrepreneurship, Computer Science, Advanced Manufacturing/Engineering, Skilled Trades, and Natural Resources/Outdoor Leadership, Human Services & Education.

  • Snowy Peaks- Rebuild and relocate school on Summit High School site in order to increase access to CTE and Pathway learning.

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Workforce Housing for Teachers & Staff

  • Develop employee housing on the old Summit Education Center site in Silverthorne. Building 60 units of affordable housing to be built on the former site of the Silverthorne Elementary School building in Silverthorne for teachers and staff.

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Critical Maintenance: Safe & High Quality Learning Environments

  • Address building safety, critical repairs, security, technology and internet connectivity.

  • Protecting community assets by replacing outdated, inefficient mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and HVAC systems,  updating our restrooms, athletic spaces and kitchen equipment to extend the useful life of our school buildings, reduce costly emergency repairs, and improve energy efficiency, saving taxpayer dollars.

  • Provide additional space for student mental health support and other services.

  • Breckenridge Elementary-the oldest school in our district- has significant structural challenges. While Breckenridge Elementary is a safe school, its Facility Condition Index (FCI) of 75.5% puts it in a severely deficient category. Specifically, the building no longer meets code, and requires a new roof and asbestos abatement.  These factors necessitate action to ensure a continued, safe and future-forward learning environment for students. The proposed bond will fund the construction of a new Breckenridge Elementary building, addressing structural challenges and ensuring a continued safe, future-forward learning environment.

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2024 Proposed Bond Initiative

Fiscal Impact

The proposed bond amount of $195.4 million would increase property taxes approximately $158 per year, or $13 per month, for a home with  $1 million assessed value  within the district.

The District took advantage of incredibly low interest rates and its Aaa bond rating in 2021, when it refinanced existing bonds and saved Summit taxpayers over $623,000 in interest expense.  

The District will make the final payment on its 2004 bond issue this December. This payoff of a portion of the District’s bonds will result in a reduction of $3.7 million in District taxes next year.

This upcoming drop in the bond payment and a nearly 2 mill drop in the total mill levy paid to SSD in 2024 has provided an opportunity to present the community with the 2024 bond proposal to address the District’s most critical facility and instructional needs at a low cost to taxpayers.

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Students and teachers engaged in dynamic learning environments at Summit School District

 

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Arguments for:

  • Summit School District’s bond is focused on providing an exceptional education for current and future students by providing new classroom spaces for career and technical education that will prepare students for their future careers while ensuring safe, healthy and secure learning environments in all of the district’s school buildings.
  • The bond will allow the district to provide access to much-needed rental housing to attract and retain great teachers and staff.
  • The bond will allow for maintenance and updates in all of the district’s schools to extend their useful lives, protecting these community assets, while also building a new Breckenridge Elementary to replace the current school building that is in need of significant improvements.

Arguments against:

  • Now is not the right time to increase property tax on Summit County homes and businesses after last year’s reassessment led to increases in property taxes.
  • The district should be focused on students, teachers and classrooms, instead of buildings, by putting more of its budget into curriculum, classroom materials and support for teachers.
  • Breckenridge has one of the smallest student populations and should not get a new school.