MONTROSE - The school district is about to have a $100 million inventory list under its belt.
Montrose County School District Re-1J currently owns roughly $75 million in property and buildings around town, and once the construction projects funded by the November 2002 bond issue are completed, that number will be much nearer to $100 million.
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The $23 million school facilities package, approved by voters in November 2002, includes an $11 million bond and an increase in sales tax that will bring in an additional $12 million. The package is being used to expand and renovate several schools across the district. Funds from the bond have already paid for the $1.7 million 12-classroom expansion at Montrose High School and are paying for the $5.1 million new Johnson Elementary School and the $2.36 million expansion and renovation that will link Olathe High and Middle schools with a new administrative area and add seven classrooms to the south end of the campus. The funding will also be used to pay for the renovation and expansion of Olathe Elementary and the expansion at Cottonwood Elementary, among other projects.
While the current property value list was updated in July 2003, it does need revision and leaves out some facilities that the district owns, District Risk Manager Barbara Hunt said. The list does not include some properties that the district owns or is caretaker to, such as the building that currently houses Valley Books and Coffee at 328 E. Main St. or the property for the new Johnson Elementary School near the intersection of 67.00 and Locust roads. The list also takes into account the physical property, such as desks, filing cabinets and other equipment, that the district owns.
The school district is caretaker to the Valley Books building, which was donated by the Townsend family years ago, Hunt said. The rent collected from the building is used to fund the Townsend Scholarship. Partners, whose office has been located in a rent-free district-owned building on Colorado Avenue, has also been using district facilities but is being asked to vacate by July 1 to make room for a new bus loop.
"It's amazing," said Hunt, who has been with the district for about three years. "Every time I turn around, it's like 'Oh, we own that too?'"
In addition to the sites where the district's schools sit on, the district owns a plot of land roughly four and a half acres in size near Baldridge Park, the portion of Selig Avenue that runs from South Fifth Street to Montrose High School and a lot in Olathe near Olathe High School.
"We used to own several small school buildings, like Minoken, Bostwick Park and Cimarron, but those have been sold off over the years," Hunt said.
The district's facilities stretch across the area, from Olathe Elementary School in the north to Cottonwood Elementary at the south edge of town. The new Johnson Elementary School will mark the furthest building expansion of the district to the east and Oak Grove Elementary School is the westernmost building in Re-1J's inventory. The district currently operates six elementary schools, three middle schools, two high schools and the Early Childhood Centers in Olathe and Montrose.
Contact Jason Monroe via e-mail
at jasonm@montrosepress.com.
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