Brief: Board finalizes 2013 grants list

The state Capital Construction Assistance Board on Thursday made its final recommendations for grants from the Building Excellent Schools Today or BEST program.

The board selected a list of applicants on June 29 but held off on a final decision until a final financial review of the projects was made. Nothing was found in the review to change board members’ minds, so the June list was approved, with a slight shift in the ratio of state and local funds for one project.

The large-project list, in priority order, includes these schools and districts:

West End (Naturita), Elbert 200, Sheridan, Pikes Peak Board of Cooperative Educational Services, Lake County (Leadville), Platte Valley (Ovid), Hi Plains (Kit Carson County), Dolores, Lamar, Otis, Fort Morgan, Buena Vista, Genoa-Hugo, Fort Lupton, Montezuma-Cortez, Aurora, Aspen Community School charter and Ross Montessori charter in Carbondale.

Four projects are on an alternates list in case one or more of the finalists loses its bond issue and can’t raise the local match. Alternates are Denver, Greeley, Calhan and Salida.

The major projects have a total cost of about $273 million, including some $184 million in state support. The board also gave final approval to 13 smaller grants totaling $9.3 million, including $6.3 million in state funds.

The final decision on the 2013 list will be made by the State Board of Education next month. The list will be revised in November based on election results.

See this EdNews story for more details on the finalists.