{"id":23538,"date":"2025-02-12T13:25:43","date_gmt":"2025-02-12T20:25:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/dolores-school-board-hears-from-project-managers-for-best-grant-project\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T04:37:46","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T04:37:46","slug":"dolores-school-board-hears-from-project-managers-for-best-grant-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/dolores-school-board-hears-from-project-managers-for-best-grant-project\/","title":{"rendered":"Dolores school board hears from project managers for BEST grant project"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The
The Dolores School District headquarters.<\/span>The Journal file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

The Dolores RE-4A school board on Monday was given presentations about the BEST grant construction project and the success of the elementary school art show.<\/p>\n

The art show, which was student led, started with the goal of raising $500 for the Red Cross\u2019 work aiding victims of wildfires in California. Artwork sold for $5 each, and by Monday, the show had raised about $700.<\/p>\n

The board also was updated on a new math teacher and the addition of STEM lessons.<\/p>\n

Middle school and high school students have worked on NASA-type projects and robotics, and the district is working with the Southwest Education Collaborative to bring in guest speakers. Upcoming speakers include a geologist, master electrician and Navy SEAL, via Zoom.<\/p>\n

One parent thanked the district for preparing students for careers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s cool to see that our lower schools are taking this initiative and this action to couple up with out local resources and give our kids these changes, because that\u2019s what\u2019s going to put them ahead in life,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Next, the board heard from Matt Prinster and Chris Guarino, the owner\u2019s representatives from Artaic Group, the project management firm who will be aiding in the construction of the district\u2019s new high school through the BEST grant.<\/p>\n

Artaic was also part of Dove Creek\u2019s elementary school project through the BEST grant.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour community deserves a phenomenal and extraordinary education facility. Look at the incredible things your teachers are doing,\u201d they said. \u201cWe\u2019re big believers that the building is all a teaching tool. We\u2019re excited to help you enhance your facilities and realize your dreams of fortifying the campus over time and really bringing the 21st century learning facilities to your staff and students.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prinster and Guarino explained that owner\u2019s representatives are project managers who act as liaisons and representatives of the district to those working on the construction and other facets of the building project.<\/p>\n

They added that they don\u2019t design, don\u2019t build and don\u2019t profit from any budget changes, making them a neutral entity to help manage the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re highly motivated to finish your project on your budget, on time and with they utmost, highest quality,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

They also complimented the district\u2019s committee tasked with helping oversee the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are not just checking the box. They\u2019re asking valuable questions, they\u2019re challenging information Matt and I am bringing to the table, and they\u2019re keeping us on our toes. That\u2019s really great for us, we really appreciate that,\u201d Guarino said.<\/p>\n

Going forward, the representatives will provide a monthly update to the board so they can stay up to date on the project and its progress. As of right now, they are on track to break ground on the high school this summer.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo very exciting, and things are happening really, really quickly. We\u2019re on a very tight schedule and that\u2019s why we\u2019re here,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

BEST grant projects must be completed three years after the award was announced. Prinster and Guarino estimated the project to be finished by or at the end of summer 2027.<\/p>\n

The pair also noted that they were excited to work on a project in a rural community like Dolores.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d rather work in our rural, Western Slope communities than do the biggest, fanciest project in Denver or anything like that. These are the most rewarding projects, educational projects. Our rural communities are our future, and it just makes us very proud,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

After the Artaic presentation, the board heard about the district\u2019s FFA request to travel to the Washington Leadership Conference in June, followed by a BOCES update.<\/p>\n

According to the report, BOCES is planning on asking for \u201ca lot more\u201d money for staff raises, which could cost participating districts even more money, should the Montezuma-Cortez school district successfully pull out of BOCES.<\/p>\n

Before the meeting\u2019s close, board president Maegan Crowley reminded the community that the bond only came into affect after the district was awarded the BEST grant and that the recently passed mill levy did not increase taxes. She said there have already been questions and confusion coming from the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to remind that it is a good thing, and it is eventually going to make the town a lot more prosperous as well. That\u2019s a proven fact. When buildings and schools are improved, the community around it improves as well \u2026 it\u2019s a valuable investment for our community,\u201d Crowley said.<\/p>\n

The next Dolores school board meeting is Monday, March 10 at 6 p.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Groundbreaking is expected to take place this summer<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13990,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[44,103,155,28,60,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-23538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-dolores","tag-dolores-schools-re-4a","tag-education","tag-headlines","tag-montezuma-county","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23538"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23538\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78168,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23538\/revisions\/78168"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23538"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=23538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}