Pubdate: Sun, 19 Jan 2014
Source: Watch, The (Telluride CO)
Copyright: 2014 The Watch Newspapers
Contact:  http://watchnewspapers.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3883
Author: Samuel Adams

MONTROSE SCHOOLS WILL ACCEPT GRANTS, EVEN IF FUNDED BY POT

WESTERN SAN JUANS - Alpine Wellness, one of Telluride's three retail
pot shops, has served over 1,100 people since opening its doors on New
Year's Day, according to Will Evans, the store's director of marketing.

Statewide, the nearly 40 retail marijuana dispensaries across Colorado
made $5 million selling the formerly-illegal drug in their first week
of business.

Although none of the retail pot shops in Telluride have released gross
sales numbers, the State of Colorado expects to collect $70 million in
tax revenues from the state's budding industry, according to the
information accompanying Proposition AA, the statute Colorado voters
passed in November establishing a taxing system for the new industry.

AA stipulates that the first $40 million in retail pot revenues are
earmarked exclusively "for public school capital construction as
required by the state constitution...."

But revenues from the tax do not exclusively benefit communities that
permit retail marijuana commerce. Rather, the State of Colorado will
collect the revenues and distribute them to districts applying for the
funds via state grants, regardless of their town's position regarding
retail marijuana sales.

Mary Lynn Christel, a consultant for the Public School Finance
Department of the Colorado Department of Education, said the earmarked
$40 million will be available for distribution through the Building
Excellent Schools Today grant network, the program funded by the
Colorado Department of Education's Division of Public School Capital
Construction Assistance that helps fund capital improvement projects
in public schools across the state.

But the Telluride School District will likely not see any BEST grant
funds from the state, even though the town it serves is home to three
retail marijuana shops.

"The community of Telluride as a whole has always been very supportive
of education," said Telluride School Superintendent Kyle Schumacher.
Since local taxes have supported the district, state funding has not
been needed, or available.

"There are districts across the state that are in more need of capital
construction projects than the Telluride School District," Schumacher
said. "I never want to see any district be denied funding because of
policy decisions its town makes. I would always like more funding for
my district, but the fact is that there are districts in this state
that need the funding more than we do."

The disparity between districts is evident just 65 miles north of
Telluride, where the Montrose/ Olathe School District faces
substantial financial hurdles. The district is eligible for BEST
grants, even if that means accepting revenues generated by taxing the
sale of marijuana, which the two towns do not permit.

Fifty-seven percent of Montrose County voters said no to Amendment 64
in 2012, which legalized recreational use of the drug. By comparison,
nearly 60 percent of the county's voters approved of Proposition AA,
possibly signaling that although Montrose County does not permit the
use of marijuana, it is willing to benefit from it.

Regardless of the town's policy toward retail marijuana,
Montrose/Olathe School District Superintendent Mark MacHale's top
priority is replacing the crumbling Columbine Middle School.

The district, which cannot afford to replace the school - an estimated
$14 million undertaking - was a finalist for a $7 million BEST grant
this summer, but ultimately lost the bid. The need to replace
Columbine Middle School school remains.

"We replaced a wing of Columbine Middle in 2008, but we have
approximately 55,000 square-feet of it that needs to be replaced
entirely," said MacHale. "It looks like replacement is more economical
than patching it up; the numbers are leading in that direction."

While replacing the aging middle school is the district's top
priority, he added, "We have an almost endless list of capital
improvements we need to address. One of our problems is paying for
maintaining and upgrading our schools. The general operating fund for
maintenance and repairs is one of our needs as well."

The district is applying for more BEST grants, including a $170,000
grant to repair the roof at Oak Grove Elementary School, and a
$500,000 grant to upgrade the heating and air conditioning system at
Montrose High School.

Montrose City Councilor Carol McDermott, a former educator and school
board member, said that all communities - even those not permitting
retail marijuana sales - should benefit from the tax.

"I don't think that our not permitting marijuana sales excludes us
from benefiting from the marijuana tax," said McDermott. "If there's a
tax across the board on recreational marijuana sales, the tax
generated should go to everyone in the state, and should be
distributed according to need."

'Sounds Like a Lot, but It Isn't'

While the majority of pot-generated tax dollars are earmarked for
public school improvement projects, MacHale is not depending on
state-funded BEST grants alone to fix his schools.

"The $40 million sounds like a lot of money, but it is not enough to
build one high school in the state," he said.

"I'm pretty cautious about saying that we're going to get [BEST] money
in our district. I wish it was different," said MacHale. "There are
approximately 1,000 schools in Colorado; the chances of us having the
political clout to get that money here in Montrose is relatively slim.

"We are one of the lowest-funded districts in the state, and Colorado
is one of the lowest in the nation. Our budgets were cut by about $7
million by the state in the past several years," he said, adding that
the district has improved its student performance, despite dwindling
revenues.

"My task was straightforward: improve student performance," he said.
"Thanks to improvements in technology and staff retention, we're
really starting to see some improvements."

In 2013, the district was accredited by the Colorado Department of
Education for the first time in recent memory, according to District
Communications and Special Projects Coordinator Mindy
Baumgardner.

"When it comes to improving facilities, you can't do that without
money," said MacHale. "But we're doing everything we can with the
money we've been given. We think we can do more and do it better if we
have additional funding."
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MAP posted-by: Matt