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

  • UCNJ Launches $30M Modernization of Physical Education Center

    The Union College of Union County (UCNJ) in Cranford, N.J., recently broke ground on a new $30-million modernization project for its Physical Education Center (PECK), according to a news release. The college partnered with DIGroup Architecture for the project’s design, transitioning the existing 42,000-square-foot structure into a campus hub for student athletics and campus life.

  • Empowering People Through Smart, Sustainable Campuses

    Sustainability is facing increasing scrutiny, with some questioning its costs and priorities. Yet for universities, it remains an essential driver of resilience, operational efficiency and long-term competitiveness. At the same time, there is a growing recognition that sustainable transformation is not just about reducing energy consumption and emissions to comply with tightening regulations ‒ it’s about creating vibrant, comfortable environments where people can thrive, innovate and connect. For university leadership, this is a complex balancing act, with rising energy costs and limited budgets only adding to the challenge.

  • Three U.S. Universities Install Acre Security Access Control Platform

    Cloud-native physical and digital security solutions company Acre Security recently announced that it has deployed its access control platform at three major universities in the U.S., according to a news release. Acre partnered with Atrium Campus to provide coverage for more than 69,000 students at the University of Virginia (UVA), George Mason University, and Rockhurst University.

  • concentric silhouettes of a human head

    How Physical Space Shapes the Mind: Designing for Better Learning Outcomes

    Research in environmental psychology and neuroscience increasingly suggests that the way a room is designed can influence memory, focus, or even a student's sense of belonging.

Digital Edition