Enrollment increasing in school district

Almost time for another CBCS expansion?

By Olivia Lueckemeyer

As the valley-wide population grows, so do enrollment numbers at the schools across the RE1J school district. Though facilities have yet to reach maximum capacity, conversations about future expansion have already commenced.

Superintendent Doug Tredway explained that while space is not currently an issue, wheels have been set into motion to consider the growing trend of student enrollment, especially in Crested Butte.

“We don’t believe we are in danger of maxing out any time soon,” Tredway said. “It is our plan to put together a group to look at the growth and the possibilities for future expansion, and come up with a plan as to what that would look like.”

It is estimated that as of today, at least 36 new students will enroll for the upcoming school year. That will bring the total to 1,955 students district-wide, the highest pupil count in district history. Of the 36 new students, 26 will head to the Crested Butte Elementary School.

Contrary to popular belief, Tredway says, enrollment is distributed fairly evenly across the elementary grades, not just kindergarten. In fact, the greatest area of expansion at CBCS is within the third grade level, for which the district has hired an additional teacher. The increase of third graders is due to the growing number of families relocating to Crested Butte.

“I think people are moving to Crested Butte right now because they can,” Tredway said. “They like the community and the schools and can do their job remotely or they can afford to move to Crested Butte, so they are.”

On paper, enrollment may seem inflated, but according to Tredway, is still only slightly higher than expected. There is enough space for current and future students, and while rearranging might be necessary, the wiggle room to do so is adequate. For example, certain subjects such as music and art, which currently inhabit classrooms, could be made mobile, therefore freeing up space for homerooms.

“We are still in regular classrooms,” Tredway said. “We have not expanded or pushed people out. There are a couple of rooms that we could have classes in that we don’t. Those things could be moved around if need be.”

According to Tredway, the amount of space left at the Crested Butte Community School is difficult to gauge.

Though enrollment is heavier at the elementary level, high school class sizes also continue to grow, albeit less rapidly. Because of this, the question of when the facility might need to expand is dependent on the grade level of future incoming students.

“A lot of it is about which grades the new students come into,” Tredway said. “We could take a lot more students if they come in the right place, but if they all come into one grade, that is where you have to end up adding a class.”

Fortunately, the addition of new students has not financially burdened the district significantly. While the per-pupil revenue mandated by the Colorado Department of Education is one of the lowest in the country, it is still enough to allow for hiring additional staff.

“For every new student we get new funding, so when we get new students we can hire new teachers,” Tredway said. “There is a little bit of an added burden because the per-pupil revenue is so low, but it does pay for itself.”

While constructing new facilities is not off the table, the district will exhaust all other cost-effective options before resorting to breaking ground. Whether the solution is using existing classrooms, moving classes around or bringing in modules, discussions about how to deal with growing student populations are in the works. Nevertheless, if forced to construct another school building, Tredway wishes to proceed with caution.

“We have to figure out a funding source,” Tredway said. “We have asked the public for money in the past so we want to be really careful that we’ve followed the right steps and taken our time in making that decision.”