Capital Construction

FY2025-26 BEST Grant Cycle

Please Note: The deadline to submit Notice of Intent to Apply (12/15/2024) has passed. Only projects who submitted Notice of Intent will be able to apply for the FY26 BEST Grant. If you did not submit this year, we look forward to working with you on a FY27 BEST Grant.

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About Us

A branch of CDE, the Division of Capital Construction has developed a series of programs and resources for capital construction funding as well as technical assistance for school districts, traditional public schools, charter schools, BOCES, and the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind.

Opportunities and Announcements:

On May 15, 2024 the Capital Construction Assistance Board approved its FY2024-25 prioritized list of projects to receive financial assistance. The list of recommended grants was presented to the State Board of Education and approved during their June meeting.
- View the FY2024-25 BEST List of Awarded Grants (Excel)

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BEST Video

In 2018 the Building Excellent Schools Today grant program celebrated 10 years of serving Colorado schools!

Since 2008 BEST has awarded over $3 billion in grants to more than 600 Colorado schools, improving health, safety and security for over 400,000 students.

With funding from The Colorado State Land Board, Colorado Lottery, marijuana excise tax, and local matching dollars, BEST continues to improve Colorado's educational environments through capital construction projects helping schools to realize CDE's vision that "All students graduate ready for college and careers, and are prepared to be productive citizens of Colorado."

How is BEST Funded?

The BEST assistance fund has four revenue sources:

State Land Trust Funds
- The greater of fifty percent of the gross amount of public school lands income, other than interest or income earned on the deposit and investment of moneys in the public school fund received during the fiscal year, or forty million dollars.
- Public school lands income comes from:
  - (a) The sale of timber on public school lands, rental payments for the use and occupation of public school lands, and rental or lease payments for sand, gravel, clay, stone, coal, oil, gas, geothermal resources, gold, silver, or other minerals from public school lands;
  - (b) Royalties and other payments for the extraction of any natural resources on public school lands; and
  - (c) Interest or income earned on the deposit and investment of moneys in the public school fund.
Marijuana Excise Taxes
- 100% of dollars received and collected from annual excise tax collected from retail recreational marijuana sales is transferred into the BEST Program Assistance Fund. May of 2015 marked the first grant cycle that utilized excise tax revenues.
Colorado Lottery Funds
- Any proceeds earned beyond the Great Outdoors Colorado allowable cap are directed to the Colorado Department of Education’s BEST Program Assistance Fund and used to address health and safety issues in public schools.
Interest Earned
- Interest earned on the assistance fund is also used to fund grant projects.

All revenues are collected in one fund, called the Assistance Fund, which is used to administer annual competitive grants to school districts, charter schools, institute charter schools, boards of cooperative educational services, and the Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind. These BEST funds can be used for capital improvements such as new school construction as well as general repair, renovation and remodel of existing school facility systems and structures. Projects receiving grant funds do not receive revenues from one single source; the Division is therefore unable to determine specific amounts from available revenue sources which went towards a specific project.

The BEST Program is committed to maintaining financial transparency on all levels. You can find the BEST Legislative Reports by fiscal year, the current BEST Revenue and Expense Report, various financial charts and graphs, and the BEST Offering Statements all listed below.

BEST Legislative Reports and Offering Statements can be requested via email at BestSchools@cde.state.co.us. For more information or if an alternative version of a document is needed, please contact BESTSchools@cde.state.co.us or call 303-866-2153.