Moffat County School District has some old buildings.

It’s true. Sunset just hit 70 years. Sandrock was built during the LBJ administration. The Early Childhood Center/Admin building (formerly East Elementary) was built under Eisenhower. Maybell Elementary originally opened in 1948. Ridgeview Elementary is older than most Ridgeview parents, if not all, built in 1981, and Moffat County High School was built the same year. Craig Middle School, the young pup of the bunch, was rebuilt in 2009, before any of its students were born, and still includes portions of the 1948 original construction.

But old buildings or not, the school district is responsible for sending its kids to learn in quality facilities, and we’re taking that responsibility seriously. Maybe more seriously this year than ever before, in fact.

We are working diligently to maintain our buildings well and ensure our students and staff are learning and working in the highest-quality structures we can offer them. Planting a tree or adding some curb striping may seem small, but add it up with all the other work we’ve done this summer and throughout the last year, and we think it equals a great product.

These are indications that our district cares, and that our maintenance, facilities and grounds teams care. The hard work of these men and women over the summer and always shows how dedicated they are to the quality of our students’ educational environments. 

Within MCSD, we all have to play in creating great learning experiences for our students, and when we face a roadblock to our summer plans — like needing to pivot from a full-building carpeting at Sandrock Elementary because of necessary asbestos mitigation — or when a pipe main bursts in the middle of the football field, we adjust, we reset and we move forward.

This is the tenacity of our facilities team. That’s what it takes to make our buildings look as good as they did when students started school over the last couple weeks. These men and women don’t need to be front and center. They will hold the door for you as you enter their buildings, knowing that their work is what makes it look so great.

This team is consistent, focused and talented. Their work reflects the absolute best we can do with our limited financial resources. They are constantly stretching the value of what we can give them to work with.

Of course we have major repairs and renovations needed in our buildings. Roofs, parking lots and more. These will come, as funding becomes available, but for today we maintain what we have with surgical precision to be accountable to our taxpayers and to maximize what we’ve been given.