The Bayfield School District will issue a request for qualifications (RFQ) for architectural firms to begin planning for an upcoming bond issue.
While the board hasn't decided it if wants to ask voters to approve another bond issue, it will apply for a state BEST grant for school construction, and that requires a proposal and architectural plans from the district.
The RFQ will be issued by the end of this week, Superintendent Troy Zabel told school board members at the board meeting on June 23. The district will hold a meeting and tour of school property on July 15, with a deadline to receive the qualifications by July 31. Zabel said he would like to have a firm selected by Sept. 4, then apply for the state BEST grant in January. The grant winners are announced in May.
The district wants to build a new school for third through fifth grades on 40 acres it owns near Bayfield Middle School, according to the RFQ. That land was purchased with bond revenues that voters approved in 2012.
The RFQ also asks for proposals to renovate the current elementary and primary schools. Also included in the request are designs for a drop-off and pick-up lane at BES, an upgrade to all school kitchens, upgrading playgrounds and fields at BES, adding air conditioning to all the schools, and a new transportation and bus maintenance barn.
In other action, the board approved $42,000 in Chromebook purchases for school students. That brings the district total to 125 Chromebooks each at BMS and BHS, and 75 at BES. The lightweight computers allow students to log in to work on projects, without the expense of having computers in each classroom. Teachers can move 25 Chromebooks at a time into their classes on a portable cart, and they have better control of what their students can access on the web.
Bill Bishop, the district technology director, also unveiled a new website he is designing for the district that should be online by the end of July. There will be calendars for each school, and late start days and school closures will be displayed prominently on the home page, he added. The page is better designed for parents and the public to look at it on their smart phones or mobile computers, Bishop said.
Zabel also told board members that the Rural Innovation Alliance received the approval from the Colorado Board of Education to try a new assessment pilot program. The alliance is made of up rural school districts that want to develop their own school accountability program. The state board approved the program 7-0, which is unusual because the state board usually splits its votes on party lines, Zabel said.
