The Colorado Department of Education has awarded two Building Excellent Schools Today grants totaling nearly $ 5.8 million to the Thompson School District.
The largest, $ 5.2 million, will help fund renovations to turn Conrad Ball Middle School into a kindergarten through eighth grade and consolidate it with Mary Blair and Monroe Elementary Schools. District officials announced the grant last week.
The second grant, announced by the state this week, is $ 591,754.51 to support ventilation projects at several schools in the district. The grant is paired with nearly $ 1.5 million already earmarked for upgrades at several schools so the district can do more with its bond funding.
"This grant will help subsidize the cost of repairing, installing and replacing ventilation systems and components that support ventilation," said a memo to the school board about the grant application.
Building Excellent Schools Today is a competitive grant program run by the Colorado Department of Education that is funded from multiple sources, including an excise tax on marijuana sales. This week the state announced 41 grants totaling $ 296.9 million, including the two to Thompson.
The state will also be awarding another series of grants as part of a pool of funds available to improve ventilation and filtration systems in response to COVID-19 and the challenges it has posed to schools. Department of Education officials have recommended the Thompson School District for the $ 670,494 they applied for under this process, but the award is not yet official.