To meet the needs of students and the community for the next decade, the Bayfield School District will probably need to make some significant investments in infrastructure — most notably a complete remodel and expansion of Bayfield Middle School.
That was the consensus of dozens of residents and staff members who convened on September 4 to hear a presentation from a pair of architectural firms hired by the district in the spring to assess its infrastructure needs. Representatives of Chamberlin Architects of Grand Junction and another from Cuningham in Denver guided the first of what will be three (3) Master Facility Plan Workshops. The meeting was held in the spacious commons area of Bayfield Intermediate School, which was constructed as part of the district’s last capital improvement campaign in 2018.
BSD Superintendent Leon Hanhardt kicked off the three-and-a-half-hour meeting by urging attendees to participate in evaluating the district’s (and community’s) long-term needs while maintaining a focus on the academic success of students.
“That is our primary goal. We are very intentional in making sure our students have the facilities to meet each one of the items on our Graduate Profile,” he professed.
The superintendent also expressed gratitude for the community’s prior investments in educational facilities and challenged the working group to help the district make a plan that honors that previous commitment. That largely requires responsibly planning for future facility needs instead of putting off looming problems until they become urgent — and even more expensive.
“The voters in our community have been very generous in ensuring we have amazing facilities to teach our kids in and to make sure our kids succeed in the classroom,” Hanhardt said. “We think this is an important process as we lay out a plan for the future at Bayfield School District because we do not want to get ourselves into a situation where there is urgency. We should instead make all of the decisions now that will impact the district down the road.”
“What do we want the Bayfield School District to look like in 2034?” Assistant Superintendent Bill Hesford prompted, noting that the process of crafting a facility master plan is necessary to identify priorities and ensure a fiscally responsible approach to meeting them.
District officials knew going into the process that the largest and most pressing need was at Bayfield Middle School, which is rapidly approaching a lifespan of 50 years and is much older than any of the other schools in the district.
“The condition of Bayfield Middle School has driven this process. There are some very significant safety and security concerns at that building that have to be dealt with,” Hesford said.
During the assessment, foundation cracking was noted, along with aging interior finishes, a breezeway that presents numerous challenges, and several other issues that need to be addressed before the district is confronted by situations that are not only costly — but could also interfere with the operation of the school.
“We were here over the summer and walked through the high school, middle school, and K-2 school and did an in-depth analysis of each of those buildings,” said Jonathan West of Chamberlin Architects. “We found aging systems at Bayfield Middle School that are past their usable life and really need to be replaced.”
There was good news for the district in the fact that the building does not appear to have a fatal flaw that would require the construction of an entirely new building — which was a realistic fear prior to the assessment.
“The building itself, the structure of the building, is in great shape. There’s no reason why we can’t utilize that structure and remodel and add on to it to meet the needs of a 21st-century school. It can be used. It just needs a little love right now,” West reported.
“I’m relieved that we’re not in a position where we are forced to build a new school. We’re excited that we can use the bones of the middle school,” Hanhardt said. Hesford noted that a proposed remodel of BMS would be similar to the renovation performed at Bayfield Primary School in 2018.
District officials also spoke to the need to increase space at the school to not only address existing capacity issues but also be in a position to absorb expected growth in the community’s population.
“We anticipate a bigger population and new students, and BMS is presently at capacity. We do need to consider what kind of additional spaces we need there,” Hesford suggested.
Bayfield Town Planner Nicole Killian was present and reported on the status of the Highway 160 interchange project that is slated for the intersection at the east end of the Bayfield Parkway. She also spoke about recent annexations and other moves that have been made by city officials to prepare for growth.
“We’re looking at the potential for 800 new housing units,” Killian said, noting that there are currently 1,100 houses in town. “It will take awhile to build out that many units but things are happening, and it will definitely impact the school population numbers.”
The desire to have school buildings that are big enough to meet future needs was one of the first wishes identified by community members who attended the meeting. The group also made it clear that there is an expectation for attractive school facilities that are a source of community pride, and the architects urged the people at the workshop to seriously explore ways to make the most of the district’s resources for the benefit of all of its students.
“Today, we want to think about the Bayfield School District in its entirety - the big picture,” said Kari-elin Mock of Cuningham.
There was a great deal of consensus in the room for developing a facilities plan that expanded on Career and Technical Education opportunities, as well as a recognition of the need to provide students with learning environments that offer the ability to take advantage of modern technology.
The group also discussed enhancements for athletic facilities, improved accessibility, parking issues, and a relatively urgent need to replace the HVAC system at Bayfield High School. It was installed when that building was constructed in 1997 and reached its expected lifespan long ago.
The comprehensive assessment also looked at district support facilities — the administration building and transportation facility located on Clover Drive and a pair of downtown buildings that are the oldest owned by the district. These facilities are all on the south side of Highway 160, and it was suggested that the district may explore options in the long-term to divest itself of those properties in favor of consolidating their operations by utilizing property owned by the district near Bayfield Intermediate School.
It was noted that the older downtown properties — only one of which is being used by the school district at present — could be utilized more effectively by the community than by the district. The four lots occupied by the district’s administration building and transportation facility represent commercial properties that are becoming exceedingly valuable as a result of nearby development, and sale of the property could help fund future capital improvements.
Such a sale would not produce enough of a windfall to cover the costs of the district’s most immediate need — the renovation and expansion of Bayfield Middle School — and district leaders have acknowledged they will require the support of voters for the funding necessary to take on such a project.
“We are considering the potential of seeking a bond to support some district level projects, and have had discussions with our school board about asking for a bond from the voters in the fall of 2025,” Hesford told the working group.
The district could seek to include the cost of the replacement of the HVAC system at Bayfield High School in the total amount of money they would seek in a bond, as well as some other priorities that were discussed by staff and community members at the September 4 meeting. Based on rough estimates, the district could be seeking a bond of approximately $20-25 million.
Hesford said the district would also pursue a BEST grant from the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) to cover close to $10 million for the capital improvements. BEST funds, which were established in 2008, “can be used for the construction of new schools as well as general construction and renovation of existing school facility systems and structures,” according to the CDE website.
Hesford indicated development of the master facility plan is part of the process towards obtaining the grant, and noted that it will also be in the district’s favor if a significant level of design completion for the proposed projects can be completed before the grant application is submitted.
“There is no guarantee that we will get a BEST grant,” he acknowledged. “But in the case that we aren’t successful this year, we will want to go back in subsequent years because your chances of approval go up with each year.”
The next Master Plan Workshop will be held at Bayfield Middle School from 5:00 to 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, September 25. A third and final workshop is slated for Tuesday, October 29 at 5:00 p.m., and it will be held at Bayfield Intermediate School.