The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Some changes to accommodate construction
By Kendra Walker
As the summer season wraps up, local kids will head back to school on Monday, August 26. Crested Butte Community School is ready to welcome students and staff back for the 2024/25 school year, with plans to work around the facilities expansion and improvements project.
The construction at CBCS has made progress this summer and it will continue through the school year. Instructional space and construction will be separated from each other while school is in session.
“Construction fencing will make things feel tight on campus, and some areas inside the building will be blocked off. Some operations will be modified for students, but their experience will be of having a great year!” shared Gunnison Watershed School District superintendent Dr. Leslie Nichols. She also said that phase one of the CBES playground will be ready to go for the first day of school and the boy’s soccer team will be able to use the improved field, which will be replaced by fall 2025.
CBES principal Sally Hensley shared that there will be some changes to start times and drop-off schedule. “New this year, we will be doing a staggered start time for elementary (8:20) and secondary (8:30). This is an attempt to ease the traffic flow and reduce the number of people arriving at the school at the same time,” she said.
For the elementary drop-off, families will drop students off in the main parking lot, as they have in the past. “Students will enter through the B1 door near the Cafeteria/MPR,” said Hensley. “We ask that families comply with the pick-up and drop-off zones along the perimeter of the parking lot, drive slowly and stay off their phones. Families who would like to walk their students must park in the lot.”
For secondary drop-off, “Families will drop students off in the rear student parking lot as they have in the past. Students will enter through the main door near the flagpole,” she said.
“Due to limited parking and congested areas, we ask that families consider carpooling, taking the bus, or using public transportation to get to and from school,” said Hensley.
“We appreciate everyone’s flexibility and patience as we navigate this extensive building project. These will be challenging years, but the end product is going to be outstanding!”
Nichols echoed her appreciation for everyone’s flexibility. “While this school year and next will feel construction discomforts, it will all be worth it when we have new, secure and separate elementary and secondary entrances, a fantastic career and technical education wing off the library, new classrooms and team areas for our elementary grades and a CBES preschool program! Students will have a facility that supports the outstanding education that CBCS provides.”
She continued, “The Town of CB has been an outstanding partner in the development of our traffic plan with the roundabout at Red Lady and Hwy 135 and with improvements to both of our parking lots. Our BOZAR experience was positive and resulted in solid design improvements.”
During the August 12 school board meeting, Chris Guarino of Artaic Group (the owner’s representative for the facilities improvements project) shared that construction on all school sites will be action packed these last weeks leading up to the start of school. “Schools will by safe and attractive on day one,” he said, noting that they will continue coordination with administrators and staff to ensure smooth and safe logistics between student instruction and construction. “We understand construction is loud and distracting and can be a nuisance, but we’re really committed to trying to lean into the opposite.”
CBCS’s Sean McCune said parents will have the opportunity to ask the general contractor of the expansion project any questions about the situation. “We will have representatives from the construction contractor, FCI, at our beginning of the year events so that they can answer any questions from the community,” he said. “They will be at the school for Orientation Night August 22, and the Back to School Bash on September 18th.”
Student enrollment and staffing
As for student numbers, Nichols said the district is still early in enrollment projections. “There tends to be a lot of family movement this time of year. We anticipate holding steady with numbers from last year,” she said. Last year, the first day of school recorded 310 students for the CBCS elementary school (CBES) and 405 kids for the secondary school (CBSS) for a total of 715 students.
At the start of the school year, Nichols said CBCS will have a total of 85 staff members, with 41 staff at CBES and 47 at CBSS (three overlapping). Currently, the school has vacancies for a PE/Health teacher, health aide, permanent substitute, special education aide and an educational assistant. McCune said the school is still searching for a part-time Gifted and Talented Teacher at the CBSS.
Nichols said that food service will be similar to last year. “Our overall food service staffing is strong. We will be managing food service staff district-wide and may have people rotating up and down valley,” she said.
Bus service will also be similar to last year with two bus routes each morning, one from CB South and one that runs through Buckhorn, Skyland and Riverbend. “We have only one bus in the afternoon that will run the entire route, ending in CB South,” said Hensley.
There will be no bus services in the town of Crested Butte or Mt. Crested Butte, as the school district continues to deal with a shortage of drivers. Hensley and transportation director Paul Morgan are looking into the possibility of minibuses that could do morning routes for Mt. Crested Butte. The RTA and Mountain Express buses will provide student transportation as well. “They have been amazing partners and have adjusted their schedules to accommodate students going to and from school,” said Hensley.
“It all comes down to a lack of CDL drivers and a lack of applicants, and this is what we’re dealing with,” Morgan said. “It’s a national problem.” He noted that while school bus drivers must have a CDL license and special passenger and school bus certification, the district pays for the training and offers good benefits and pay.
