The Alamosa City Council and Alamosa School District came to agreement Wednesday on how many students will be permitted for the Alamosa Alternative High School, which is relocating to the former Friday Health Building at Main Street and San Juan.
The city council at its meeting on Nov. 20 approved up to 100 students for the downtown school. It also placed a condition that the school district create between 1,200 to 1,500 square feet of retail space on the bottom floor of the building to comply with the city’s downtown plan for a retail environment.
It took two votes from the city council and a voice of support from the city of Alamosa planning department to get to the 100-student cap, which can later be adjusted by city action if the school district continues to see growth in its alternative programs. The city’s planning commission and Main Street advisory group had recommended a cap of 75 students, which the city council was deadlocked on.
But that lower cap was overcome when city planner Deacon Aspinwall told city council members that the planning commission was more interested in some cap on students rather than no cap, which the school district wanted.
“I vote with students,” City Councilor Jan Vigil said in pushing for the higher ceiling.
The Alamosa School Board will get a report at its meeting Thursday, Nov. 21, from Superintendent Diana Jones on the next steps for the school district to close on the $2.3 million purchase of the one-time Friday Health property. The school district has been waiting to close on the purchase of the property until it heard from the city council on the conditions the city would place on the move.
In addition to relocating its alternative and online high school operations to Main Street, the school district will relocate its administrative offices to the downtown building.
At a previous meeting on Nov. 7, the city council had adopted a change to its downtown zoning to allow for an “educational use” in the central business district.
The school district has been seeing an increase in students for its alternative high school, partly due to student expulsions at Alamosa High School and Alamosa School District accepting students from other school districts, according to assistant superintendent Luis Murillo.
The term “alternative school” brought some baggage to the school district’s conversations with the city and with downtown tenants. Murillo said the school district is looking at formally changing the name of its alternative school because of the negative connotations “alternative schools” carry.
The school district said it currently has 59 students in its alternative high school setting and 16 kids who are on a waiting list. The alternative school is located on Victoria Street next to Ortega Middle School and will move downtown for the start of the 2025-26 school year.
The school district’s administrative offices are currently located in East Alamosa and will move downtown at the beginning of 2025.