$55 million school bond fails to pass in Soda Springs School District

SODA SPRINGS — The chances for a new high school in Soda Springs are noticeably smaller Wednesday after a $55.1 million school bond failed to find voter approval on Election Day.

Soda Springs Joint School District 150 proposed a 20-year term bond, which would have helped build a new high school and improve an elementary school. 

Of the 2,105 people who voted for the bond in Caribou, Bear Lake, and Bonneville counties, 55% voted against it, and 45% voted for it. Idaho law requires a supermajority approval of 66.67% to pass school bonds.

“We appreciate everyone who voted on the bond. Our goal is to come back and communicate with the community and ask for feedback on what they would like to see. We truly do appreciate the community and their support for our students,” Superintendent Scott Muir told EastIdahoNews.com after the results.

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Background

The district had asked 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 bond information website.

The new high school would accommodate around 350 students.

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

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. 

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