Step Inside Coal Ridge

New Castle

The Proposed Addition at Coal Ridge High School

If approved, the bond would fund an addition and related renovations at Coal Ridge High School to expand trades, agricultural, and career-ready training, athletic facilities, and performing arts spaces.

Conceptual rendering

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Conceptual — one possible design, not a final plan. Layout, colors, and materials are preliminary and would be determined during final design. Final designs are subject to Board approval. Projects would be completed to the extent of available funds.

Imagen conceptual — un diseño posible, no un plan final. La distribución, los colores y los materiales son preliminares y se determinarían durante el diseño final. Los diseños finales están sujetos a la aprobación de la Junta de Educación. Los proyectos se completarían hasta donde alcancen los fondos disponibles.

Today

Where these programs are now

Coal Ridge High School is at capacity for classroom space, and much of its career and technical education programming is housed separately from the main building. These are programs the school already runs.

Career and technical classes — spread across campus and modular space. Teachers rotate between rooms.
Agricultural sciences — the current space is outdoors, a walk from the main building.
Outdoor recreation equipment — kayaks, bikes, skis, and paddles for the student-run rental program are stored off site in shipping containers, roughly 10 to 12 miles away.
Athletic training — the weight room shown here, which is undersized for the number of student athletes using it.

Photograph · April 2026

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The weight room today. Racks, benches, and platforms fill the floor; the room is in steady use and has no remaining room to grow.

Scope

The proposed projects

Adaptable career and technical classrooms

Flexible classrooms for engineering and manufacturing, computer and design technology, and business. Consolidates programming now spread across campus and modular space, and frees existing classrooms so teachers stop rotating between rooms.

Agricultural lab and greenhouse

An indoor agricultural sciences and horticulture lab with an attached greenhouse, on the main campus.

Outdoor recreation space

Warehouse and drive-up window for the student-run outdoor equipment rental program, plus an outdoor education classroom. The district calls this the Venture Outdoor Lab.

Expanded athletic training space

Adjacent to the existing weight room, in an area the school’s original phased design anticipated.

Performing arts space

A flexible performance space seating approximately 300, with an audio-visual system. Sometimes described as a black box theater.

Photographs show these spaces as they exist today. Renderings are conceptual and subject to Board approval. Projects would be completed to the extent of available funds.

Prepared by Garfield School District Re-2 for informational purposes only. Not intended to advocate for or against ballot issues.

Arguments for and against

Colorado law requires that a factual summary published by a school district present arguments both for and against a ballot measure.

Arguments in favorThis is not a tax increase. The measure is structured so that it would allow the district to build and improve learning spaces without adding a new tax; it would extend bonds approved by Re-2 voters in 2006.

Arguments againstVoters approved a bond in 2006, and this debt is retiring. A new bond would continue the existing debt levied by the school district and has a total repayment cost of up to $225 million on $118 million borrowed.