On February 27, the Bayfield School District Board of Education voted unanimously to authorize Assistant Superintendent Bill Hesford to issue a Request for Quote/Proposal (RFQP) for the creation of a district-wide Master Facilities Plan.
The plan will address both the short-term and long-term needs of all of the district’s seven existing facilities. District officials intend for it to serve as a “road map ultimately leading to high performing 21st century school facilities,” according to the RFQ/P that was issued on Wednesday.
The desire to create a Master Plan was driven in part by concerns over the condition of Bayfield Middle School, which was built nearly 50 years ago. School district officials have been confronted with a leaking roof and a mounting list of maintenance needs in the aging building, and administrators fear that upkeep costs in the district’s oldest school — which was built in 1977 — may continue to rise. The creation of a strategic plan will help identify a long term course of action for the facility that makes the most sense for the community.
The Master Plan will also address Bayfield High School, which was constructed in 1997, and enhanced in 2013 to include additions for the Performing Arts Center and music classrooms, Auxiliary gym and baseball field. Some of the older systems in that building are more than 25 years old, and may be reaching the end of their lifespan.
The successful applicant will also evaluate Bayfield Primary School and Bayfield Intermediate School, but it is not anticipated that the needs of those buildings will be significant. BIS is Bayfield’s newest school after being constructed in 2018, and BPS was built in 1999 but remodeled extensively in 2018, when library and cafeteria additions were built.
The company chosen to create the Master Facilities Plan will also study the condition of the Bayfield Administration Building and a pair of retired school facilities that are still in use and may have some historical significance to the community.
One of the buildings was constructed in 1923 and includes a historic gym. It is currently being leased by Pueblo Community College, and is also used as a maintenance office and storage facility. The other facility was built in 1950 as one of Bayfield’s original school buildings, and it is used by the approximately 30 students who attend Wolverine Academy, an alternative high school program.
“The master plan should explore a variety of options, based on a thorough assessment of the facilities, to develop a strategic implementation plan for the long term facility needs,” the RFQ/P document states.
Applicants have until March 28, 2024 to submit their proposals, and those individuals or entities interested in responding to the RFQ/P are invited to attend an optional site visit on March 7.
The district has identified the selection criteria that will be used to choose a winning candidate. It includes experience and qualifications, references, the scope of services offered and the ability of the applicant to complete the tasks and deliver a Master Facilities Plan to the district by the proposed October 1 deadline.
“We put extra weight on references. That has worked well for us in the past,” Hesford told the board when they reviewed the criteria and approved the document on Tuesday.
The company that is eventually chosen to undertake this project will be expected to create a Master Facilities Plan for the Bayfield School District “through a team effort involving school administration, staff, students, community members, and professional consultants with disciplines in education, planning, programming, architecture, engineering, construction, facility management, facility operations and technology,” according to the RFQ/P issued this week.
Those individuals or companies who are interested in submitting a proposal can download the RFQ/P documents and a Master Plan Scope Matrix for more information and return the required materials to the district prior to the deadline. They can also contact Assistant Superintendent Bill Hesford at 970-884-2496 or email questions to [email protected] prior to the “Clarification Deadline” of March 14.
The district will be seeking parent and community members to volunteer to serve on a selection committee that will evaluate and score the submitted proposals in order to identify three finalists. Those finalists will be interviewed on April 8, and the committee will make their final selection that day.
The school district is preparing an application for those community members who wish to participate on this committee, and we will update this story to share a link to that document once it is finalized.