Summit School District Facilities Master Plan 2026 Update
Summit School District Superintendent Tony Byrd and Chief Financial Officer Kara Drake presented the work that has been done to this point on the 10 Year Facilities Master Plan to assess needed school improvements and maintenance for the next 10 years. Summit School District is facing several challenges, including declining enrollment, aging facilities, and rising operational costs. A proactive, student-focused Master Plan helps mitigate larger expenses and difficult decisions later. Superintendent Byrd and CFO Drake were seeking feedback, opinions, alternatives, and other reactions to the plan progress so far, as no formal decisions or plans have been made by the Summit School District regarding facilities.
School Closure Discussion
District staff spoke about the challenges of being able to provide enough staffing resources to small schools, explaining that elementary schools with 300-600 schools are the ideal size to have sufficient funding to provide optimal resource levels for student success. Currently, only two of the six elementary schools in Summit County have over 300 students enrolled. Birthrates have been decreasing across the state and country leading to a trend of lower enrollment. Lower enrollment combined with budget constraints has led to the Master Plan discussion needing to address whether it would best serve students and the district as a whole to close one or two elementary schools; this would result in a savings of approximately $700,000+ in fixed costs when closing one elementary school. This discussion is necessary to responsibly determine building maintenance and improvements and to consider expanded facility needs if some schools were combined.
Master Planning Committee
Parents, guardians, district staff, and community leaders were invited to be part of a Master Planning Committee in the fall of 2025, and they were charged with coming up with recommendations for the 10 Year Facilities Master Plan. Anyone who was interested was invited onto the committee, and the committee provided recommendations for school maintenance, improvements, and potential school consolidations in February 2026. This recommendation included combining Breckenridge Elementary with Upper Blue Elementary, which would require the addition of seven classrooms, and continuing to monitor enrollment at Summit Cove Elementary. If funding is not made available to expand Breckenridge Elementary, then the committee made the recommendation to move preschool classes to Frisco Elementary and spread students between Frisco Elementary and Upper Blue Elementary.
The Committee also recommended remodeling and adding spaces at the high school for career training in the areas of construction, manufacturing, health sciences, welding, and computer sciences, as well replacing the artificial turf and the track and improving the locker room area. In addition, the committee recommended completing deferred maintenance and improvements in all schools across the next ten years.
Next Steps
The Schoolboard will have an in-depth discussion during their March 19, 2026 meeting, and there will continue to be public outreach to Town Councils, community members and parent and community groups over the next several months. Any progress on facility improvements will hinge on funding, and with 88.9% of the school budget going to salaries and benefits, there would need to be a bond approved by voters to make significant and timely process on the priorities identified by the Master Planning Committee. This bond would potentially be considered for the November 2026 election.
Council Discussion
Council had questions regarding the upcoming 100+ rental units being built in Frisco and whether that had been considered, and District staff said that this had been considered by the demographer, but that even with this factored in, the reality of lower birth rates in mountain communities still has a significant impact.
Council also had questions about the resources that could be made available to Frisco Elementary and whether classrooms would regularly be combined. The Council also reiterated their support for Frisco Elementary and the importance of this school in the community. District staff reiterated that smaller schools do have less staffing resources, especially to address special education and other student programs, which is why closure and consolidation of elementary schools in the district is being considered to better address student success.
Discussion about Adoption of the 2024 Building Code
The purpose of this work session item was to provide Town Council with an opportunity to provide further feedback and ask questions regarding the series of updated international codes being proposed for adoption in April 2026, including fire, energy, and commercial and residential building codes. The Council packet also included written public comment regarding these changes.
Listed below are the codes that are proposed for adoption.
(A) The 2024 International Building Code
(B) The 2024 International Residential Code
(C) The 2024 international Plumbing Code
(D) The 2024 International Mechanical Code
(E) The 2024 International Fuel Gas Code
(F) The 2024 International Existing Building Code
(G) 2024 International Energy Conservation Code
(H) The 2024 International Fire Code
(I) The ICC/ANSI A117.1-2017 Accessible and Usable Buildings and Facilities Code
(J) The 2024 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code
(K) The 2023 National Electric Code
(L) The 1997 Uniform Code for the Abatement of Dangerous Buildings
(M)The 2025 Colorado Wildfire Resiliency Code
(N) The 2025 Colorado Electric Ready and Solar Ready Code
Council Discussion and Direction
Within the code series, staff requested additional feedback from Council for two codes:
- International Fire Code and suggested amendments presented to the Council at the February 20, 2026 work session- Council had questions regarding requiring sprinklers in new residential units that are 4,500 square feet or more and how often sprinklers fail, which fire experts answered was rare and usually due to lack of maintenance.
Council gave direction to proceed with the International Fire Code with some changes, which includes requiring sprinklers for new residential construction over 4,500 square feet. The Town of Frisco has been collaborating with Summit Fire and Red, White and Blue Fire to arrive at code recommendations, which meet Town public safety needs and consider the expertise of local fire officials. - International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) – John Schumacher with CBCS, who is the Town’s contracted Building Official, recommended, based on previous Council direction, adopting the 2024 code as-is, as it provides three pathways for conservation in building practices. Mr. Schumacher noted that many Frisco builders are already committed to high quality construction and will likely continue to exceed the 2024 energy code requirements.
Council discussed and had questions about meeting stricter requirements, such as an Energy Rating Index (ERI) of 50 and solar and electric readiness requirements, in order to meet climate action goals. Council discussed finding balance between honoring climate action goals and considering increased costs.
Council gave direction to go to 2024 energy code, mandate Zero Energy Ready Home (ZERH) for new residential construction, allow for the three pathways to meet requirements (prescriptive path, simulated performance-based path, and energy rating index (ERI) path), and go to an ERI of 50.
Council also gave direction to provide a “leniency” provision with a delayed timeframe for enforcement so people currently in the design phase would have some time to submit their design without mid-design changes.
Frisco Town Council Meetings: Ways to Participate
Frisco Town Council meetings are available to view via Civic Plus Resident Portal, Zoom, and YouTube, and are also held in person to make Town Council meetings easier to access for everyone.
The public can provide comment during meetings via Zoom or in person (not on YouTube), and a public comment period will be available at 7:00pm; during the consideration of ordinances; and at the discretion of Town Council during work session items, which are discussions that don’t require a formal vote by Town Council and do not require public comment. Again, this hybrid approach is intended to make Town Council meetings more accessible.