Soda Springs School District asks for bond over $50 million in upcoming election

SODA SPRINGS — A local school district is asking for a $55.1 million bond in the upcoming general election to help build a new high school and improve an elementary school.

Soda Springs Joint School District 150 posted bond information online, which can be found here. The proposed bond would be for a 20-year term.

The district is asking for a new Soda Springs High School after the current one — located at 300 East 1st North — was built in 1959. The high school is “reaching the end of its projected lifespan,” according to the website.

It says online that there is a lack of classroom space, outdated security measures, excessive structural deficiencies, and more problems with the building.  

“Our HVAC system does not meet the building code for air circulation. We just don’t have the heating and cooling that a school in this day and age probably needs especially living over here for the wintertime. We don’t have heat that always works,” Superintendent Scott Muir told EastIdahoNews.com.

Muir also said the high school does not have a common area for the students. The lunchroom is located in the basement, which has ADA compliance issues. 

“We’ve got an elevator and it sits on the outside wall of the school. So, in the wintertime, it gets really cold, and that elevator doesn’t work. We do have at least one student in the school that needs access to that lunchroom (with the elevator),” Muir said. 

The new high school would accommodate around 350 students and be built south of the current school on the same site. Check out the rendering below. 

“We’re going to build the new high school in front of the old high school,” Muir said. “Students would attend the old high school while the new one is being built, and then once the new one is built and we move the students into the new one, then we’ll demolish the old high school. We are going to keep the old gym.”

If the bond passes, construction will begin in 2025. 

That part of the bond would cost $44.8 million, while $10.3 million would be used for classroom and gym additions at Thirkill Elementary School. 

Muir said the elementary school currently does not have a gymnasium.

Online bond information says there is a lack of classroom space and outdated modular buildings at the school.

If the bond passes, there wouldn’t be any modular classrooms, there would be more parking, and drop off and bus circulation would be improved. Muir said there would be an expansion of six classrooms. 

“This expansion would allow fifth graders to return to Thirkill Elementary from Tigert Middle School,” bond information online said. 

So, how much would this cost taxpayers? According to the bond information, it will be $300.94 annually per $100,000 of net taxable property value. Click here to use a tax impact calculator.

“I just think students deserve the best that they can get. I think everybody deserves the opportunity to go to school comfortably, safely and be able to get an education,” Muir added. 

The last bond proposed in the school district was in 2017, and it was passed, according to the school district. It included a gymnasium addition and a classroom addition at Tigert Middle School. Muir wasn’t around at the time of the bond but said it was nearly $7 million. 

Idaho law requires a supermajority approval of 66.67% to pass school bonds.

The election is on Tuesday.

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