There’s a $17 billion need to fix deteriorating Colorado school buildings right now, according to the Colorado Department of Education, but CBS News Colorado has learned there’s no more money left to go around.
State Treasurer Dave Young calls it a “crisis point.”
Colorado is one of about a dozen states that doesn’t provide a yearly funding stream for school buildings. Instead, it has a competition every year to hand out some money to the schools most in need.
It’s called the Building Excellent Schools Today — or BEST — grant program, and it has awarded $3.5 billion over the last 15 years to school districts needing to update their buildings, according to the state department of education.
