The Montezuma-Cortez RE-1 Board of Education received details on a planned affordable housing development in the city and discussed proposed changes to administrative salaries at its monthly meeting on Tuesday.
At the start of the meeting, following an executive session about legal advice related to the Matthews HVAC litigation, Jason Armstrong, Cortez Community Development director, gave a presentation on the Park Village Development. The 60- to 70-unit affordable housing project will be located at the site of the former Cortez High School and was acquired by a state land banking grant from the state of Colorado and Great Outdoors Colorado Fund in 2018.
Armstrong said the east side of the property is set to become affordable housing, while the west side will remain parkland maintained by the city of Cortez.
Preliminary plans show 24 one-bedroom, 24 two-bedroom, 12 three-bedroom and 10 four-bedroom units, along with a clubhouse and open space. It was estimated that the project could generate around 30 students for Mesa Elementary School, which is near the property.
School Board Secretary Mike Lynch expressed concern about people outside the city and county applying to live in the housing, which he said could take away opportunities for people in the area who may need housing.
Armstrong said the city would welcome those from out of town who wish to live and work in Cortez.
Other members of the board noted the housing could help attract teachers who aren’t living in Cortez yet. The housing letter of support was brought to the board’s vote in action items and was approved with a 6-1 vote. With the board’s approval, the city received support from one of the largest employers in the city.
School District Executive Director of Finance Danielle Brafford, executive director of finance, and Justin Schmitt, executive director of academic services, presented information regarding the director/executive director salary schedules. They compared the current salaries at MCSD with other rural Colorado districts, noting that while teacher salaries have risen, director pay has increased more minimally.
Brafford and Schmitt said 17 out of 18 districts analyzed had a higher starting salary for directors than MCSD and eight out of 10 districts were higher for executive and chief directors.
The district currently pays teachers 78.33% of director salaries, while the average of the 19 districts analyzed was 59.87%.
The proposal asked to improve the competitiveness of director/executive director salaries. At a May meeting, the board decided the salary schedule for direct and above-level staff would be tabled until an audit of past steps could be completed.
In action items, the board approved a new math curriculum by a unanimous vote, as well as the secondary school online instructional model. The emergency adoption of the 2030 graduation requirements also passed. The measure originally read as the 2029 class, but was amended to this year’s incoming freshman class, who will graduate in 2030.
These requirements included an amendment to math credits, which MCHS Principal Jennifer Boniface said would allow flexibility for students who may change their minds and decide to go to college, when it may have not originally been part of their plan.
The next meeting of the school board will take place on Tuesday, July 21 at 6 p.m.
bduran@the-journal.com
