School District Shows Interest In Housing Issues
One of the topics of interest at this week’s Gunnison RE1J school board meeting was housing and growth. The district has seen consistent growth in student enrollment over the years and has set aside funding for temporary, modular classroom units at the Crested Butte Community School. The increase in the number of students means more money from the state however it’s not expected to be enough to expand the current Crested Butte Community School Building.
With that said, it is anticipated that the district will be asking the voters for support by means of a mill levy sometime in the next few years. The purchase of up to three modular classrooms is part of the school district’s plan to support the continued growth within the school district prior to any construction phase. As part of the planning process, the district has also put out a request for proposals to architectural firms to help with designing and growth plans. With planning for growth comes planning for housing needs. We need teachers and teachers will need housing. Just last year the Crested Butte School had three teachers leave, stating that they couldn’t afford to buy a house here. School board member Dale Orth suggests that while it’s just as important that we have affordable rentals, we also need to have affordable options to purchase homes. People want to know that if they rent for several years, they will have the opportunity to save up and eventually be able to purchase a home of their own. The topics of housing and growth continue to be hot topics throughout the Crested Butte community.
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