Academy District 20 seeks ballot funds to rebuild Air Academy High School

(COLORADO SPRINGS) — Academy District 20 (D20) is kicking off the new school year with some major plans on the horizon.

The district is preparing to present a ballot measure this fall , seeking voter approval for a significant investment in their schools. The proposed measure would ask for up to $70 million from voters to support the rebuilding of Air Academy High School (AAHS) and other key projects, in collaboration with federal funding.

The Public Schools on Military Installations Program will cover 80% of the rebuild’s nearly $240 million cost. The district will need to cover the remaining 20% of the total cost, approximately $49 million.

“AAHS is 65 years old,” said Becky Allan, D20 Deputy Superintendent/Chief Financial Officer. “As you would in your own house, projects and maintenance build up. We call it deferred maintenance, it’s repairs that need to be made and if we were to look at the list for AAHS, it’s $73 million long.”

This is where the bond measure comes into play. The total amount of the bond measure is $69.14 million. The dollars are allocated as follows:

• $49 million for a 20% match to receive an approximate $191 million federal grant to rebuild 65-year-old Air Academy High School, including a Center for Excellence, with new career education accessible to students across District 20;
• $9 million to update District-wide non-charter facilities to improve health, safety, and security and to comply with the mandatory LED lighting requirements contained in Colorado HB23-1161
• $9.48 million for capital improvement projects at The Classical Academy
• $1.66 million for capital improvement projects at New Summit Charter Academy.

“It is not a tax increase for our community,” Allan said. “Our payment is decreasing next year by about $9 million and that will fall and allow enough room for us to go ahead and put this bond measure in place and not have a tax increase for our community.”

In the coming days, D20 will have a household tax calculator on their website that will allow homeowners to determine how much their taxes will fall if it passes and how much their taxes would fall if it fails.

The proposed ballot measure comes as state lawmakers and Democratic Governor Jared Polis recently celebrated the fact that Colorado schools are fully funded for the first time in decades. Some voters might be wondering with this historic level of funding in place, why are some school districts still seeking additional money from voters?

“It surprises people when I tell them that Academy School District 20 is funded dead last in the state,” Allen said.

District officials tell FOX21 News that around 2010, the state implemented a budget stabilization factor. It structured the amount of money that a school district can or should receive, but officials claim the state did not have enough money to make good on those payments.

“If you look each year, the money that D20 did not receive because of the budget stabilization factor, it’s over $260 million,” Allen explained. “Isn’t it funny when you look at that dollar amount, how similar that is to the amount of money it would take to rebuild AAHS?”

The District 20 Board of Education will meet later this month to finalize the language for the ballot measure. In the meantime, they are planning to host community forums so voters can make an educated decision come November.

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