Manitou Springs School District 14 is accepting applications for a new steering committee that will oversee the development of a likely bond next year.

The development of the bond  is still coming together as the district looks to address needs throughout the district identified in an Americans with Disabilities Act and Office of Civil Rights audit.

During the 2018-19 school year, Manitou Springs High School applied for federal funding through the Carl Perkins Vocational Act to expand its career and technical education programming. Because they are federal dollars, the school was randomly selected for an audit that year to assess spaces and access for students with disabilities.

In February 2020, a group from the Colorado Community College System conducted a physical audit of Manitou Springs High School and Manitou Springs Elementary School and found multiple structures and facilities that were out of compliance with ADA standards.

Buildings constructed before the 2010 ADA standards do not have to meet these requirements if they comply with the previous 1991 standards. However, any new buildings and required upgrades going forward must comply with the latest standards.

The school district originally hoped to address the deficiencies and other facility upgrades through a bond measure in 2021. If it passed, the $43 million bond would have built a new middle school and renovated the high school while also improving safety and security and upgrading its playgrounds and athletic fields.

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The bond failed and the district’s bond committee and board of education began working on policy and procedure amendments and projects to bring the district up to ADA compliance.

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The audit reported that the schools lacked required signage and that various facilities such as restrooms, curb ramps and parking lots were not fully accessible to people with disabilities. Updated policies and procedures handbooks were completed for the start of the 2023-24 school year while corrective actions were made for exposed bathroom plumbing and bars, and bathroom dispensers were readjusted to ADA heights.

Representatives with RTA Architects presented D-14’s board design concepts for the high school’s commons bathroom, additional ramps, accessible locker rooms, a limited-use elevator for people with wheelchairs and other renovations to meet the audit’s accessibility criteria during the Nov. 21 school board meeting.

Work remains ongoing for final project designs, preliminary pricing from contractors and developing a master plan and accompanying website for a bond. Superintendent Sean Dorsey told the board he’s “hopeful” that some of the ADA renovations could be completed through the current general fund after pricing out the project.

“I think that it shows not only good faith, but I think we can solve some potential issues…before going to a bond in 2025,” he said. “And that’s honestly the right thing to do for our patrons, internal and external stakeholders alike.”

In the meantime, the district is accepting applications for a new bond steering committee that will begin meeting in January.   

Dorsey said that he’s received feedback from a variety of community members , but they still need more applicants. The tentative plan is for them to meet multiple times per month.

“And, really, their charge is going to be to come up with a couple of different options to bring to the board, as far as a potential bond…package for the board to consider and to move forward, potentially, in November 2025,” he said.

Those interested in joining the steering committee can fill out an application on the school district’s official website.