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Process Overview

Montrose County School District retained RTA Architects in January of 2021 as the planning and design team to assist in the creation of a Facilities Masterplan. The District serves approximately 6,100 students spread across the communities of Montrose and Olathe, and manages approximately 800,000 sq. ft. on properties totaling almost 174 acres of land. The intent of the Masterplan is to evaluate existing facility conditions, understand current and future enrollment projections, and review the educational adequacy for each grade level served. With steady input from the District and community members, the final document will provide a road map to assess and identify the needs for facility and capital improvements in the near and far future. The masterplan process will consider the conditions of all district facilities, including school campuses, district offices, maintenance buildings, and charter schools. The District values the importance of facility maintenance to keep standards high, prevent failures and maintain reasonable operational costs. Montrose County School District is proud to be the first STEM District in Colorado. They believe the facilities must be maintained to support current and future educational needs in order to ensure student success.

The master planning process is both investigative and exploratory. It is essential to identify and understand how the existing conditions align with the District's Vision, explore options, and set goals that support current and future program offerings. The process is a fully collaborative effort between the school board, school district, parents, and the professional planning and design team. The final product serves as the foundation for facility planning, but it is considered a constantly evolving, "living" document. As items are completed, and future needs are discovered, the document will serve as a guide for rational decision-making with respect to long-term goals.

The final Master Capital Plan is a complex document that requires input from many people's diverse talents and perspectives. Two groups were created to consistently participate in the planning efforts: the Executive Committee and the Planning Advisory Team (PAT). These teams have met regularly throughout the duration of the masterplan process, and were assembled to represent the School District and communities of Montrose and Olathe.

Executive Committee

The Executive Committee is the primary decision-making group that makes final recommendations to the School Board. The Committee has and will continue to meet weekly throughout the master planning process and is committed to ensuring the direction aligns with the long-term vision of the Montrose County School District and the communities of Montrose and Olathe.

The following Core Values were defined by the Executive Committee;

Executive Committee Members:

Jeff Bachman, MCSD School Board Member
Philip Bailey, MCSD Director of Property Services
Penny Harris, MCSD Early Childhood Centers Director
Matt Jenkins, MCSD Public Information Officer
Colleen Kaneda, Owner’s Representative with Dynamic Program Management
Eric Kelley, MCSD School Board Member
James Pavlich, MCSD Executive Director of Operations
Dr. Carrie Stephenson, MCSD Superintendent of Schools

Planning Advisory Team (PAT)

The Planning Advisory Team (PAT) is a specially convened group of stakeholders that provide context, creative input, and critical feedback to shape the framework for the master plan strategy. The group includes members of the Executive Committee, parents, community members, and school district employees. The team brings a broad background of knowledge and expertise, including construction, general business, information technology, local policymaking, real estate and development, financial management, and more. The PAT met monthly throughout the master plan process, and their efforts have been invaluable to the process for defining project priorities for sustainable growth within the School District.

 Thank you to the following for your commitment and participation in the PAT:

PAT Schedule & Meeting Records

Quick Links / Additional Information

BEST Program Information
Colorado Department of Energy (CDE) Assessment
School District Website
Montrose Childcare Needs Assessment

Research & Investigation

The research and investigation portion of the master plan is a comprehensive effort to fully understand the physical condition and educational adequacy of existing District facilities. The information that follows is a result of reviewing existing building documents, completing Principal surveys, district staff interviews, and multiple site visits and surveys by architects, engineers, and contractors. The information below becomes the basis for which the Master Plan is built.

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 Demographic Research

As part of the master planning process, it is important to include forecasts for enrollment to understand facility needs moving into the future. This master plan includes demographic analysis conducted by Western Demographics. The initial analysis was conducted in April of 2021 immediately following the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic effects on school enrollment in which the average Colorado school district lost three percent of enrollment and many districts lost as much as ten percent. This report was re-issued in late October of 2021 in order to allow actual 2021 enrollment data to be included.

Montrose County is in a positive economic cycle, where employment has returned to pre-pandemic levels and new employers are continuing to increase the workforce population. Pre-Pandemic, Montrose County had an unemployment rate of 3.4% and a total enrollment of 5,905 students in grades K-12. Amid the pandemic the unemployment rate reached its highest point at 12.3% by April of 2020, with enrollment decreasing by nearly 250 students to neighboring districts and online charters. Since then, Montrose County has recovered to the state-level unemployment rate of 6.8%.

The Montrose County School District has identified the past and current enrollment population of grades K-5, 6-8, and 9-12. There is a predicted gradual increase of future enrollment within the district. Overall, enrollment at the K-5 levels within Montrose will grow the most, while Olathe Elementary School will decrease somewhat. The Middle Schools in the district will remain at a stable enrollment, and the High Schools within the District will have a small decline over the next 5 years. The county is still in recovery from the Covid-19 Pandemic, but as expected approximately 175 of 251 students lost during the pandemic did return in the 2021-2022 academic school year and it is anticipated that the balance will return in the following 2022-2023 academic year. After these two years of regaining enrollment equilibrium, Montrose County School District will have rebuilt a foundation for growth to gain approximately 128 students by 2026. As noted above, most of this growth is anticipated at the elementary school level. See the link below for the full demographic report completed by Western Demographics.

Download Full Demographic Report

 District Facility Summary

The chart above is included in the master plan to allow for quick comparison of campuses across the District. It includes physical site and building size along with general configuration information and CDE assessment information. The Colorado Department of Education (CDE) assessment information includes the Facility Condition Index (FCI) score for each of the facilities. This allows quick review and comparison of the condition of the facilities across the District. Northside Elementary School, Pomona Elementary School, Centennial Middle School, Peak Virtual Academy and Montrose High School all have FCI scores above .5 indicating the additional repair and capital renewal needs associated with these facilities.

The chart above also includes current building student capacity and how it relates to the anticipated 2022 enrollment through the anticipated 2026 enrollment at each school. This allows a quick analysis of how a building facility will handle the student enrollment projections over the next 5 years. Based on the data, the Cottonwood Elementary School and the Montrose High School will be over student capacity in 2026. Oak Grove and Northside Elementary Schools will be close to student capacity in 2026.  

 Identified Facility Needs

It is imperative to the master planning process that the condition of the existing district facilities is accurately assessed and objectively quantified.  The following were steps taken to accurately assess and quantify the condition of the existing facilities.

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. Review facility condition information
            2. Identify Current Problem
            3. Evaluate and prioritize deficiencies 

Below are overall pie charts that consolidate this information and create a comparison of deficiency categories, and comparison of overall district-wide deferred maintenance by facility.

The following links provide a more detailed description of the Assessment Process and Matrix Scoring System, as well as an Assessment Data Summary that includes all District Facilities and costs for the deficiency categories listed above.

Assessment Data Summary

Assessment Matrix Scoring System

Detailed individual assessments for each facility can be found in the campus summary links in the findings sections below.     

 Early Childhood Center Findings

The Early Childhood Centers (ECC) for Montrose County School District are located on three separate campuses. They are located at the main campus, Johnson Elementary School, and Olathe Elementary School. Although these facilities continue to be functional for the District, improvements are needed. The use of 13 modular classroom buildings at the main campus is problematic from a safety, maintenance, and operations standpoint. The modular classrooms at Johnson Elementary School are older and need ongoing maintenance and repairs. The modular classroom buildings at Olathe are newer and in much better condition, but also require some improvements. Enrollment in the ECC program is currently capped based on student capacity at each of the campuses. New mandates from the State are expected that will increase the enrollment requirements. The District also desires the ability to offer the ECC program to more students thereby improving student achievement. The existing facilities will not accommodate this anticipated enrollment increase. Larger facilities with higher student capacities are needed.    Download Campus Summary by School: Early Childhood Center - Main Campus Early Childhood Center - Johnson Elementary Early Childhood Center - Olathe Elementary

 Elementary School Findings

In general, the elementary schools in Montrose County School District are in relatively good condition but require ongoing maintenance and repair. Northside and Pomona Elementary schools are older, showing more wear and require more ongoing maintenance than the others. The modular classrooms at many of the elementary schools are older and in need of constant repair and maintenance. They are also safety issues with students moving from building to building. The demographic analysis of the district shows that the student enrollment will increase at the elementary school level over the next 5 years. All the elementary schools in Montrose will see enrollment increases with Cottonwood, Johnson, and Northside Elementary growing the most. Cottonwood Elementary School is anticipated to be over capacity while Northside and Oak Grove will be close to capacity in 2026. Enrollment at Olathe Elementary is anticipated to decrease over the same period.    Download Campus Summary by School: Cottonwood Elementary School Johnson Elementary School Northside Elementary School Oak Grove Elementary School Olathe Elementary School Pomona Elementary School

 Middle School Findings

The Columbine Middle School is a new facility and is working great for the district.  Centennial Middle School and Olathe Middle Schools are older facilities and require ongoing maintenance and repair to keep them operational.  Some work has occurred over the last few years to remove hazardous materials and make improvements, but additional interior finish and MEP system upgrades are needed.  The site at Centennial needs civil work and regrading to improve drainage.  There is also a need to improve outdoor student space and the pedestrian connection between the two buildings.  Olathe HS/MS site needs improvements to student drop-off circulation and pedestrian access to provide an accessible entry to the building.  Additional parking is also needed at this campus. Improvements to interior learning environments are also needed at the Olathe and Centennial Middle Schools.  The classroom clusters at Centennial have interior classrooms without windows or natural light.  The classroom layout could be altered to allow skylights and improved instructional spaces.  The career technical education spaces at Olathe MS/HS are older and in need of upgrades.    The demographic analysis of the district shows that the student enrollment will remain level at the middle school grades over the next 5 years.  All the middle schools have capacity to continue to accommodate the enrollment projections through 2026.     Download Campus Summary by School: Centennial Middle School Columbine Middle School

 High School Findings

The Olathe HS facility is in good condition but continues to require ongoing maintenance and repair. MEP system upgrades are needed as these systems are nearing their useful lifespan. There are also code issues such as a sprinkler system is needed in the 1995 addition. As noted above in the Olathe MS findings, there is site work required as well. Due to the age of parts of Montrose High School, it is in constant need of maintenance and repair. In many areas of the building, the MEP systems, roofing systems and interior finishes are reaching their useful lifespan and beginning to fail. There are still areas of the building that have fluorescent lighting that needs to be upgraded to LED for increased energy savings. Many exterior finishes are failing, and site pavement is deteriorating and needs to be replaced. The Montrose HS makes up 33% of identified improvements across the district making it a big part of where capital renewal funding is spent. Demographic data shows that the Olathe MS/HS enrollment will remain level over the next 5 years. The building has the capacity to accommodate the enrollment projected in 2026. Montrose HS enrollment is anticipated to fluctuate over the next five years but exceeds the building capacity by about 100 students in 2026. Additional space or creative scheduling and programming will be required to accommodate the anticipated enrollment over the next five years.    Download Campus Summary by School: Olathe Middle / High School Montrose High School

 Other District Facilities

Peak Virtual Academy Outer Range Program Student Services Annex District Office Maintenance Warehouse Building Bus Barn Townsend Scholarship Building Brown Ranch Property

  Additional District Assessments

Educational Programming & Adequacy Summary

District-Wide Facility Energy Use Analysis

Quick Links / Additional Information

BEST Program Information
Colorado Department of Energy (CDE) Assessment
School District Website
Montrose Childcare Needs Assessment

Master Capital Plan

The District Priorities above were established as a result of eight Planning Advisory Team meetings and weekly Executive Committee meetings. These meetings reviewed and analyzed multiple points of data to establish and discuss Montrose County School District needs and desires moving into the future.  The process included analyzing the needs of the District by grade levels such as ECC, elementary schools, middle schools etc.  Multiple solutions for each grade level were reviewed by the group and proposed solutions were established.  These solutions were then analyzed based on importance and placed by priority in that order.

These priorities and improvement projects were developed through a collaborative process with RTA, the Planning Advisory Team, and the Executive Committee as described above.  Each project below responds to deficiencies and needs that were identified through the research and investigation phase of the master capital planning process.

Estimates below include concept planning cost of construction estimates provided by FCI Constructors. Owners soft costs and contingencies are also included to create an overall estimate of probable project cost. Due to current volatility and extreme escalation in the construction market, it is difficult to accurately project these costs into the future. As a result, these costs are based on January of 2022 costs and do not include any escalation for later in 2022 or years thereafter. 

Select from the Icons below for more information about each District Priority and identified improvement projects:

Quick Links / Additional Information

BEST Program Information
Colorado Department of Energy (CDE) Assessment
School District Website
Montrose Childcare Needs Assessment