A Colorado Springs, Colo., school district has gotten a big financial boost from housing developers as it struggles to build new schools for the students the developments are bringing to the area.
An agreement between the 11,000-student Falcon School District 49 and a group of about 40 developers, who set up a foundation to help pay for school construction, will give the district $10 million this year to build new schools.
The developers, who have pledged another $10 million in coming months, will voluntarily assess a $1,500 fee on each new single-family house and other fees on new townhouses, condominiums, and apartments.
It’s one of the largest grants to a Colorado school system from a developer. The Falcon district has about $113 million in facility needs over the next three years, said the president of its school board, Dave Martin. The district enrolls about 1,000 new students each year, and many existing schools are overcrowded.
If a referendum to increase property taxes passes this fall, the district hopes to build two high schools, a new middle school, and three elementary schools, Mr. Martin said.
