Add as a preferred source on Google

Idaho Falls Board of Trustees Approves $250M Bond Proposal

  • By Matt Jones
  • 07/19/22

Last week, the Idaho Falls School District 91 Board of Trustees approved a $250-million bond proposal that would provide funds to renovate and improve several schools within the district. Voters still have to approve the bond issue, which will appear on the ballot in November. Local news reports that trustees have made plans to pay off the district’s existing bond debt in 2023, nine years early than planned, to minimize the cost to the public.

“D91 has been looking at ways to upgrade and improve its facilities—especially Idaho Falls and Skyline—for many years,” said District 91 Superintendent Jim Shank in a letter to staff and parents. “At the same time, the city of Idaho Falls also has seen dramatic growth, resulting in additional concerns such as overcrowding in many of our elementary schools.”

District leaders engaged with the community to determine a long-term facilities plan. If voters approve the bond in November, it would fund three major projects:

The first is the construction of a new high school to replace the existing facility for Idaho Falls High School. The existing campus would be renovated into the new home of the D91 Career Technical Education Center. The second is the repair, remodel, renovation and improvement of Skyline High School. And the third is the construction of two new elementary schools, one brand-new school and one as a new facility for the existing Temple View Elementary School.

District 91 proposed and ran two bond proposals in 2017 and 2018. They were intended for some of the renovation projects listed above, and they received over 50% of the vote but not the supermajority of 66% required to pass.

“D91 did run bonds in 2017 and 2018, but those proposals only addressed the needs at IFHS and Skyline — a new high school and upgrades/improvements to Skyline,” said Margaret Wimborne, district director of communications and community engagement. “Those bond proposals did not include the elementary schools. In both those elections we received 58% of the vote — the majority of community members supported the plans.”

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Colorado State University Global, SCTE Launch Online Certificate Program

    Colorado State University Global (CSU Global), based in Denver, Colo., recently announced a partnership with CableLabs subsidiary the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) to launch an online certificate training program for broadband professionals, according to a news release.

  • University of Rhode Island, Gilbane Partner for Three New Residence Halls

    The University of Rhode Island in Kingston, R.I., recently announced a public-private partnership with construction development firm Gilbane, according to a news release. Gilbane will soon start construction on three new residence halls with a total of 1,100 beds: two with apartment-style suites in northwest campus, and a reconstruction of the Graduate Village Apartments for graduate students.

  • illustration of a school building under construction

    One District, One Way: Bringing Consistency to K–12 Construction Projects

    From budgeting to closeout, here's how a single playbook can turn chaos into clarity in school construction programs.

  • Texas District Finishes Construction on New Middle School, Admin Building

    The Westwood Independent School District recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Westwood Middle School and Administration Building in Palestine, Texas, according to a news release. The campus covers 106,000 square feet and has the capacity for 650 students in grades 6–8, and it will also play home to the district’s staff and administration.

Digital Edition