All students will benefit from safe, functional, comfortable schools; Taxpayer investments are optimized by extending the useful life of facilities. 

BVSD owns and operates 61 buildings constructed in nearly every decade of the last 140 years. Over time, building materials and equipment age, wear out, and become outdated. BVSD must invest in maintaining and updating facilities on an ongoing basis to ensure they are safe and functional and can continue to serve students for decades to come.

In some cases, when a building has aged to the point where the cost to repair and renovate is significant enough, it makes more sense to replace the school rather than continue to invest in a worn out, out-dated building. As such, the Facilities Critical Needs Plan calls for the 70-year old New Vista High School building to be replaced with a new building on the same site.

BVSD has recognized the need to expand Career and Technical Education (CTE) opportunities, and is ready to transform the student experience in college and career preparedness. The plan includes renovations at PK-8, middle, and high schools that will expand or create flexible, agile spaces where students can experience industry-inspired environments with the latest equipment, helping them acquire valuable technical skills along with the real-world, hands-on experiences that lead to high-wage and high-growth jobs that are in high-demand.

So that students of all physical abilities can benefit from play and exercise, playground mulch on a number of elementary playgrounds will be replaced with rubberized solid surfaces that are wheelchair friendly.  

Continued growth, driven by several new housing developments, has already caused overcrowding in some of our schools in the northeastern part of the district. Meadowlark School, BVSD’s only school in Erie, is already over its enrollment capacity at the elementary-level. With additional subdivisions planned for the area, a new school campus, serving grades PK-5 will be needed in coming years.