District 93 asking voters for $34.5 million bond for new elementary school
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IDAHO FALLS — A local school district will ask for a $34.5 million bond to build a new elementary school and provide funds to repair and replace other school roofs.
Voters will have the opportunity to decide the fate of the bond for Bonneville Joint School District 93 on May 16.
If passed, the new elementary school would be built on property the district already owns just south of Telford Road (49th North) and east of Ammon Road.
“It’s been more than 10 years since we’ve opened an elementary school in the district. Of course, our growth has not stopped in that 10 years,” said Scott Woolstenhulme, the district’s superintendent.
The last elementary school that opened in D93 was Summit Hills Elementary School in 2010.
“Going back to 2014 is the first time we’ve included a new elementary school (in a bond) since we last built Summit Hills Elementary School back in 2010. We had that on the ballot back when we bonded for Thunder Ridge and for Black Canyon, the very first time in 2014. Voters did not support that bond and then we brought (the elementary school) back again actually in 2019,” Woolstenhulme explained in a video online.
In 2019, the district asked voters to approve a $42.7 million bond that would have paid for a new elementary school along with upgrades to two high schools. However, it also failed.
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Woolstenhulme says this time, they are just going to approach voters for the elementary school, in hopes that it will pass.
The new elementary school would be built to enroll at least 700 students in general education classrooms and will also provide additional classrooms for special education.
“We are planning on 36 classrooms … and the other six classrooms will be set aside for special education programs and support,” he said.
Two schools, in particular, have dealt with overcrowding issues for a while and he says having this new elementary school would help alleviate those issues.
“At Iona Elementary and Discovery Elementary … those are by far the most crowded schools. Over the past eight years, we have changed boundaries to address crowding at those schools at least three different times,” he explained.
According to the district’s website, if approved, the bond will cost taxpayers an additional $36 a year for every $100,000 of their property’s taxable value. The bond will be repaid over the next 17 years. Click here to learn more.
Woolstenhulme added the roofs at some of the schools within the district need to be repaired.
“The ones that are on the forefront of our list right now is Bonneville High School. That is right around 50 years old right now and Ammon Elementary School which is closer to 80 to 90 years old. Those ones are going to need some work done on them,” he said.
Bond issues in Idaho require a 66.6 percent supermajority support from voters to pass. Additional voting information can be found here.