School Bond Informational Meeting: Superintendent presents project overview

Last week, Soda Springs School District #150 Superintendent Scott Muir hosted an informational meeting about the school bond issue, which will be on November’s ballot.  The twenty-year bond, which is listed at a cost of $55,165,000 in the ballot question, will primarily be used for the construction of a new high school, as well as additional infrastructure and expansion at Thirkill Elementary.   

The School District has set up a website with schematics of the proposed school building, information about the bond’s purpose and details, a calculator for residents to estimate the bond’s effect on them personally, and the complete ballot question.  The website is sodaschoolsbond.org.  

The primary stated reason for the bond is the condition of the high school with regard to safety, efficiency, and compliance issues.  The current high school has been noted as being at the end of its projected life during several inspections of the facility.  Issues such as “excessive structural deficiencies, including cracked foundations…HVAC system [which] does not meet current building codes for circulation…lack of technology infrastructure…various ADA compliance issues…outdated security measures” were noted in the engineering report.  

The engineers involved in the report, Plan 1 Architects and Engineering Systems Solutions, stated in 2014 that “it is our opinion that the existing structure has an additional 10 to 15 years of service-life.  The big concern is future seismic events, which cannot be predicted.  The structure has resisted moderate sized earthquakes in the past, but has not experienced a large magnitude earthquake that the area is capable of producing.  It is our opinion that the high school would suffer extensive damage with high possibility of collapse in a large seismic event.”  Less catastrophic but equally negative conclusions were reached about the HVAC system and other aspects of the current high school.  The school has been noted as being a potential safety issue for years.

Beyond earthquake survivability and functional air conditioning, the new design also includes a new auditorium designed with higher capacity seating, a redesigned parking lot, testing and science laboratories, improved ADA compliance, updated security measures, and upgraded technology infrastructure. 

Many schools built during the last century were designed well before networking, communication, and modern media devices existed, leading to a hodgepodged collection of wiring setups and overlapping systems that are not very efficient.  This is equally true of building security, the needs of which have changed dramatically over the last several decades.   

The proposed new school will be designed to accommodate approximately 350 students, and would be built on the same property as the current school, just to the south.  Should the bond pass, construction on the new high school is expected to begin in 2025.  Due to the different footprints of the buildings, classes will be able to stay in session in the current school building until the new one is finished at its anticipated 2027 fall completion date.  The existing gym would remain and be incorporated into the new building design.

The Thirkill component of the project will include “the construction of new classrooms and a gymnasium, designed for both student and community use” and “enhanced parking with designated areas for parent and bus drop-off and pickup.”  The bond would also allow “for 5th graders to return to Thirkill Elementary from Tigert Middle School.”  The grades designated to each of the facilities will not otherwise change.  Construction on the elementary school portion of the project would begin in 2025.

The bond will briefly overlap with the existing 2017 bond for the gymnasium addition and classroom addition at Tigert Middle School.  

In the state of Idaho does not typically fund building construction, leaving that to the local communities.  Bonds are the primary method through which buildings are constructed and expanded, and require the passage of a bond with two thirds of the vote cast during the election.  Bonds are repaid over the life of the bond through property taxes.  The tax burden calculator on sodaschoolsbond.org can be used to determine the likely effect on individuals.  The figure of roughly $300 per $100,000 of taxable property was presented as representing an
average estimate.

The auditorium saw a crowd in attendance, but as word of the scheduled bond begins to be more widely discussed, Superintendent Muir noted that he plans at least a few more informational sessions to answer the public’s questions as they arise.  The school district website and the Enterprise will provide those dates as soon as they are scheduled.  Questions from the audience spanned a variety of aspects of the project, from whether tours of the old building would be given before it was demolished, to the new parking lot.  Many of the questions asked are anticipated by the FAQ section of the district’s bond website.   

Everyone who has been involved in the process of putting the bond forward or even voting on one is probably familiar with the contours of the discussion.  In a case like this one, the school building is in need of replacement, having served its function admirably over the many years but no longer being adequate to the task.  The new building will improve the experience for students in critical ways that will also benefit the community in a number of ways.  The counterpoint, of course, is the cost to taxpayers, including those without children attending the school.  

Between now and November, Letters to the Editor on the topic will be welcome.  Those can be sent in to [email protected]  or mailed to P.O. Box 331 in Soda Springs, 83276.