The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Project estimated at over $235,000
By Katherine Nettles
The RE1J Gunnison Watershed School District (GWSD) has been awarded a grant for $168,131.02 from the Colorado Department of Public Safety, Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management’s School Security Disbursement Program, to replace the PA system at the Crested Butte Community School (CBCS).
The scope of the project includes the “purchase, installation, and long-term implementation of a public address system,” according to the application narrative. The total budget for the project is $235,631.02, and the disbursement grant funds will cover 71 percent of the project cost while matching funds from the district account for the remaining $67,500 (28 percent).
The equipment and installation cost estimates total $148,776 and include the server, cables, classroom speakers, amplifiers, microphones, monitor screens, programmable bell schedule, paging zones and audio and video communications with each classroom and other spaces in the building.
The PA system at Gunnison High School (GHS) was replaced last fall with a similar system, according to GWSD superintendent Leslie Nichols.
The application states that in addition to an initial formalized training by contractors, “Further long-term training will be provided by district staff including our tech support team and the Crested Butte Community School Safety Team.”
The budget estimates allow for “long-term replacement and repair of materials” provided by the district’s general funds and tech support team. This will “help assure that this project will be sustained at least for the lifespan of the equipment, estimated at ten years, and we anticipate getting a longer lifespan from the system with our training, maintenance, repair and tech support schedule,” according to the application.
The grant was the result of a collaboration between GWSD emergency operations director Cindy McKee, technology director Ron Musick, the administrative team at CBCS, and Nichols. The district was notified of its successful application on February 12.
