The Steamboat Springs School District Board will discuss the future of Whistler Park at its meeting Monday, as school officials look to review options to provide housing for teachers amid heightened scrutiny from residents concerned about losing the valuable park space on the east side of town.

A roughly 9-acre section of the park, located south of Walton Creek Road and east of U.S. Highway 40, has been owned by the school district since 1980, but an agreement with the city that year rezoned the parcel and merged it with roughly 5 acres of city land to create the complete current recreational space.

In August, school officials released a letter to the community outlining a possibility of utilizing their section of the park as a possible approach to address a lack of affordable housing for its staff.

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According to a housing assessment, the district is facing the possibility of 41% of its staff members leaving in the next few years due to a shortage of viable housing options.

The district’s Whistler Park parcel is one of three it owns in the city. In addition to a 2.5-acre parcel located near Sleeping Giant School, there is also a nearby 22-acre parcel owned by the school district referred to as the “Barber Parcel.”

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Superintendent Celine Wicks said last week the Whistler Park parcel is not currently for sale and that any future project would likely see the construction of 10-20 housing units on roughly 2.5 acres. She also said other options are being explored in lieu of development at the park.

“Everything is on the table,” said Wicks. “We have never said we are going to build; we are open to any possibility — we just have to get it done.”

As the school board prepares to hear more about ways to pursue additional housing, those living in the densely settled Whistler Park area have consistently asked City Council members to work with the school district to find a way to preserve the park space.

Turning up in droves to deliver public comments at recent council meetings, many residents have called on the city to purchase the land from the school district or enter into a land swap agreement to reach that goal.

Those opposed to development of the parcel have frequently pointed out that the loss of the park land would effectively eliminate park space for the eastern section of the city.

Parks and Recreation Commission members heard last week that the densely settled neighborhood is already underserved by park space and offers limited- to no-other-available parcels where a park might be built.

“The process has felt very stifled with the school district and as a community member and, years ago, a former school board member, we always listened to the community and what the community has to say,” said Commissioner Samantha Rush.

“This is really one of the only parcels available to a high-density area on the mountain and I want to see it preserved,” she added.

Offering public comment at City Council’s meeting last week, Steamboat Middle School teacher Garret Bock produced a petition with more than 100 signatures from teachers who support building housing at Whistler Park and called on council members to support the district’s staff.

“I have to tell you right now, what we have seen in the past few months with our neighbors in the Whistler area trying to wrest this property away from the school district in order to just keep for their personal use has been really disheartening,” Bock said.

“We are asking for your support as teachers to make the best choice that will help our schools out,” he added.

Individuals on both sides of the issue have expressed frustration with a lack of coordination between the city and the school district, prompting City Council President Gail Garey and Councilor Steve Muntean to sit down with Wicks prior to their meeting last Tuesday.

“We really focused on, at least from my view, of trying to find a ‘win-win’ possible solution to this,” said Muntean. “The win that is evident for the school is having housing for up to 15 teachers since there’s going to be a number of retirements coming up.”

“For the community, the win is around if Whistler can be kept a park,” he added.

Muntean said the discussion included the option of the city working to provide the district with up to 15 units from projects currently in the pipeline including the Yampa Valley Housing Authority’s Cottonwoods at Mid-Valley development.

Another option could be to dedicate units to the district that could be built on U.S. Forest Service land on Hilltop Lane.

At council’s meeting last week, members voted unanimously to direct staff members to explore the feasibility of providing housing units to the district.

“My assumption is there is a sense of urgency for the school district,” added Garey, who said Wicks indicated the district’s timeline to secure additional housing was between 1-3 years.

The district school board will meet Monday, Nov. 4 at 4:30 p.m. at Steamboat Springs Middle School.