Aberdeen School District proposes bond for new high school

Sixty-five years old and slowly falling apart; that’s what Aberdeen School District said is happening with its high school.

So the school district has put an $11.8 million bond on the ballot for voters to consider next week.

“Just recently the wind storm this past week we had, part of our building blew off,” said Travis Pincock, principal of Aberdeen High School.

But that’s only one problem at the high school.

Pincock said the school also has electrical issues, technology issues and plumbing problems. The sewer system in the school continuously clogs one of the bathrooms and the piping below the school is crumbling.

The district said those are just a few of the issues it hopes to fix with the $11.8 million bond.

The bond would help pay to build a new high school, an auditorium, a practice gym and a vocational/technical building. Though it wouldn’t add more classrooms, it would double the size of what current classrooms are. Classrooms would go from 400 square feet to 900 square feet.

Pincock said the current size of the classrooms are just too small and too tight.

“Right now, putting 25 kids in a room, which probably for most schools doesn’t seem like a lot, for our school that’s a lot of students in one classroom,” Pincock said.

The current high school would be demolished, but the current gym and locker rooms would remain.

Aberdeen School District’s superintendent, Jane Ward, said the proposal was not designed by the school board. It was done by a vision committee made up of 11 community members.

“We have tried to incorporate something for everyone because we know that the school is the community center,” Ward said.

Ward said the current high school has been maintained well, but now repairs and upkeep are costing the district.

“I think the high school that we have has served us very well but we’re ready for a new one,” she said. “It’s time, it’s time for a new school.”

The Idaho Levy Equalization Act allows the state to financially help lower income school districts. So the state would pay $2.8 million if the bond passes.

Ward said the bond will not affect taxes either. Because the current bond on the middle school is up in August 2017, the new high school bond would take its place. So rates would stay the same, they would not increase.

If the bond passes, construction and demolition is planned for as early as this summer.