Colorado's total cost to construct the 4,735 classrooms by 1959 will be $170,533,228. The total of bonded indebtedness in Colorado has more than tripled in 9 years. COLORADO SCHOOL BUILDING NEEDS Colorado, like most other States in the Nation, is facing a crisis in the area of school-building construction. The Colorado State Department of Education has, for many months been conducting studies to determine the nature and extent of the need at the present time and in the years that lie immediately ahead. The conclusions of these studies point up the fact, that if we are to meet the . needs, there must be substantial financial help at the Federal level in addition to a maximum effort at the State and local levels. The State department of education studies show clearly and unmistakably that the most serious aspect of the problem of finding immediately, ways and means of providing more adequate financial support for public schools, is the great need for financing capital outlay programs. If all local districts in Colorado were to issue school building general obligation bonds up to maximum legal capacity, and if the revenue could then be distributed over the State to the areas of need, there would be an insufficient amount to finance the immediate requirement for additional classrooms. In some areas of the State the need is so great that the local districts could not meet their needs even though the debt were to be increased to double the amount now legally possible under law. Population increases, brought about through continuing high birthrates and by migration into the State has flooded the schools with pupil enrollments far beyond the ability of the local districts to provide facilities. One of the shocking facts revealed by a recent survey indicated that only 37 percent of the buildings now in use could be rated as being satisfactory for use as school buildings. A high percentage did not contain modern facilities such as running water, electric lights, central heating systems, or modern toilets. During the 1951-52 school year, the Colorado State Department of Education cooperated with the United State Office of Education in conducting the public school facilities survey in which all public school districts of the State participated. This study showed Colorado's school building needs as of September 1952. The survey showed that over 50 percent of the buildings were constructed prior to 1920. Forty-eight percent of the school buildings were of combustible construction, while only fifteen percent of the buildings reported were of fireresistive construction. As of September 1952, the report showed the following school housing situation: (a) 1,675 classrooms were needed to relieve pupil overcrowding. In other words, approximately 50,000 more children were being crowded into the present facilities than should have been; (b) 798 classrooms were needed to house pupil enrollment increases; and (c) 1,444 classrooms were needed to replace classrooms in obsolete school buildings. To transpose this construction need as of September 1952 into cost, it would be as follows: The total amount of construction as of September 1952 would require $121.177,500. This amount of money would be distributed as follows: (a) $3,690,500 to rehabilitate and remodel present school buildings; (b) $111,878,000 to construct new buildings to relieve overcrowding of pupils and to replace wornout, unsafe school buildings; (c) $5,609,000 would be needed to acquire sites and improve sites on which new or old buildings are located. However, legal bonding capacities of the State would have limited construction to $71,294,000 of the total projected needs of $121,177,500. In other words, as of September 1952 Colorado's school districts lacked $49,883,500 bonding capacity which was needed to construct public school buildings. In September 1952 the Colorado State Department of Education, again in cooperation with the United State Office of Education started work on a longrange study of school-building needs. This study was to project school-building needs from September 1952 to September 1959. The study is now completed and is at the present time being printed. The following data were drawn from this unpublished report. By September 1959 Colorado will need 4,735 classrooms to relieve pupil overcrowding, to further replace wornout, unsafe buildings, and to accommodate expanded school programs. These 4,735 rooms will house a total pupil capacity of approximately 127,938 pupils which is a conservative estimate of the increase in student population from the present until 1959. The total construction of 4,735 classrooms will require at least 11,359,793 square feet of school buildings. This figure represents an average of 2,399 square feet per classroom which, according to some authorities in schoolhouse construction, is a conservative figure. The financial cost of such a program would be $170,533,228 to provide the 4,735 classrooms which will be needed by September 1959. To point up the importance of this problem, by September 1955, $92,766,257 will be needed to construct part of the total program required by September 1959. The total figure of over $170 million would be broken down and distributed as follows: (a) To construct new plants not now in existence, $126,120,217; (b) to construct new plants on old sites (replace obsolete buildings) would cost $23,021,743; (c) to construct additions to present school plants would cost $16,943,578; (d) to replace and remodel present school buildings would cost $2,802,747; and (e) to acquire and improve sites would cost $2,644,943. These data present the problem of housing boys and girls in the public elementary and secondary schools in Colorado. THE PROBLEM OF FINANCE A statewide deficit to the amount of $13,691,031 would prohibit building the complete projected program. However, this deficit is not as large as the projected study of September 1952. Two factors account for the smaller deficit: (a) a complete property reevaluation program of the State has been completed which increased property assessments about 45 percent statewide; and (b) the long-range projected needs to 1959 were based on larger school administrative areas which contained broader tax bases than do present school districts. Expenditures for capital outlay costs in the public schools of the State increased more than 30 times in the period of years from 1944-45 to 1952-53. The total of all bonded indebtedness in Colorado increased to a new high during 1953 and stood at $234,304,383 on January 1, 1954, according to an annual survey compiled by the State planning commission. The total represents the combined bonded debt of all counties, municipalities, and school districts in the Also included in the total are the bonds still outstanding of the Moffat Tunnel district, which amount to $9,364,000. Total bonded indebtedness in Colorado school districts Bonded indebtedness in Colorado has more than tripled in 9 years since the end of World War II. In 1945 the total stood at $78,216,121, as compared to the present total of over $234,300,000. The sharp increase in the short 9-year period is due to the issuance of many millions of bonds voted by the taxpayers throughout Colorado to finance needed school buildings, municipal buildings, and other improvements in their localities. The construction of these buildings and improvements has been an important contributing factor to the greatest building boom in Colorado's history, a boom which has continued uninterrupted since World War II. School districts account for the greatest increase in debt-the present total of $106,243,550 being almost eight times greater than the school district debt of $13,659,806 in 1945. This situation reflects the impact of two major factors affecting public school enrollments: (a) Colorado's fast growing population which is now estimated at more than 1,450,000 as compared with the United States census figures of 1,325,089 in 1950, and (b) increased birth rates during and since World War II-over 38,000 births in 1953 as compared with 21,154 in 1940 and an annual birth rate averaging above 33,000 since 1946. The total of $21,442,700 in new bonds voted by taxpayers in various cities and school districts in 1953 were divided as follows: School district bonds, $12,643,000; county school bonds, $655,000; and municipal bonds, $8,144,000. Construction costs have doubled since the end of World War II and this is a major factor affecting the amount of bond issues which have had to be issued to finance new school buildings and other public improvements. Today's index of construction costs is approximately 248 as compared with the pre-World War II average of 100 for the period 1935-39. In Colorado school-plant construction is financed for the most part through the issuance of local bonds which are retired by revenues derived from a bond levy placed upon the total assessed valuation of the property within the district. Capital outlay may also be financed out of current funds. This method is of virtually no use, however, since current operating costs have skyrocketed with the increase of enrollments. Local and State effort has had to be stepped up sharply to even keep abreast of increased operating costs out of current revenues. The table below indicates the increased effort that has been made in the State to meet the educational crisis. Cost of public school education in Colorado, 1944-45 to 1955-56 A comparison of the amounts spent in previous years for capital outlay and current operating expenses discloses that current operating expenses have increased something over 3 times what they were in 1944-45 while the amount being spent in 1953-54 on capital outlay is something like 30 times the amount spent in 1944-45. There is a wide variation among the several counties in Colorado with respect to the amount of assessed valuation of taxable property back of each pupil. Even computed at the county level, the richest county has more than 17 times the ability of the poorest county in this respect. This same ability computed at the district level reveals even more startling variations. The State is making an attempt to correct the problem of the wide variation in the amount of assessed valuation per pupil by providing more adequate school districts. In 1949 Colorado had over 1,800 school districts; today there are less than 1,150. This was accomplished by the passage of legislation which provided machinery to organize better school districts. THE CAUSES In 1950-51 there were 6,000 children on half-day sessions in the public schools of Colorado. During the 1953-54 school year there were 10,000 children attending the public schools on double or so-called split sessions. In 1953-54 there were 13,770, and the number during the next few years will increase even with maximum local effort to provide facilities. This statement points out the problem of increased need for housing the pupils of the public elementary and secondary schools of Colorado. A number of factors have combined to create the existing critical shortage of classrooms. Among the most important of these are: 1. Population growth. 2. School construction backlog. 3. Improved holding power. 4. Broadened educational programs. Population growth: Increased birth rates, migration into the State, population shifts, and the holding power of the schools have all helped increase the student population during the last decade. The following quotations emphasize the tremendous population growth in the State of Colorado for the past several years: "Over half of the State's residents imported: More than half of the population of Colorado moved into the State from somewhere else, the United States Bureau of Census reported Saturday. Of the 1950 population of 1,325,089, only "State's population gain twice that of United States average: Colorado's All the data which we have been able to obtain from pupil population projec- Colorado school population trends, 1944-45 through 1960-61 school years Source: Colorado State department of education. NOTE.-The above table indicates an increase of 70 percent between 1950 and 1960. Projected public school enrollments for Colorado, by grade groups, 1953–54 NOTE.-If present trends continue, Colorado will have at least 385,000 children enrolled in the public The number of live births in Colorado increased greatly immediately follow- 58250-55-6 Tremendous population shifts in Colorado have helped to create difficult school housing problems. An analysis of the 1950 county census reveals a startling loss of population in some areas, in contrast to a phenomenal growth in others. In spite of the fact that Colorado as a whole had an increase of 194,752 in its population between 1940 and 1950, 35 of the State's 63 counties have recorded losses. In 16 of these 35 counties, agriculture is the predominant industry; in 8 counties, mining predominates; and in 11 other counties both agriculture and mining are basic to their economies. All of the mountain counties which depend solely upon a mining economy showed a loss of population during the last decade. In the agricultural areas, some counties have lost population while others have shown a slight increase. In those counties showing a loss, it can apparently be attributed to the consolidation of small farms into larger units as well as to the further mechanization of farming operations. The counties having larger cities and metropolitan areas have all experienced a phenomenal growth during this same period. This uneven pattern of growth makes the school-building program very difficult. There is frequently no close relationship between school-building needs and resources with which to meet these needs. In federally affected areas the Government has tried to help meet this problem, but no such gestures have yet been made to the State for other areas. Improved retention: A larger percentage of the State's school population is attending the public schools than at any previous time in its history. Since 1900, the percent of school population in public-school attendance has arisen from 59.2 percent to 74.4 percent in 1950. |