Soda Springs school district looks to pass $6.5 million bond

Next Tuesday, several bonds around the region are up for vote. One of those is a $6.5 million bond for the Soda Springs School District.

The bond is for upgrades and improvements to Tigert Middle School. It’s just phase one of what the school board said will be a larger process to update and improve a lot of the school’s buildings and facilities.

The gym at Tigert is the oldest school facility in the district, said school board chairman Chad Christensen. So that’s why it was selected first.

The money would help build a new gym, since the current gym was originally built in 1937. It would also add a couple of additional classrooms, a choir room, and also some public restrooms for the gym. Total, it would add an additional 24,000 square feet.

Christensen said a couple of years ago, the district had a study done of the school buildings and found that most of them had aging infrastructure. The study showed that most of them including the current gym, would not be able to withstand an earthquake if one hit.

Christensen said they’ve already seen some issues with broken flooring and cracking foundations. He said the district has tried to repair those, but it’s really more cost effective in the long run to go new and remodel. He said because of low interest rates, this is a great time to try and solidify the bond to get the work done.

He said the bond is necessary to improve ioverall student safety.

“It’s our responsibility to do the very best we can for our students in providing them the best facilities for learning and education as possible,” Christensen said. “We wouldn’t be doing it if we didn’t think it was necessary. So we’ve spent a lot of time and energy and resources and we think it’s a good plan.”

The bond would be payable over ten years. It would increase taxes by about $87 per year, or about $7 per month.

Voters in Soda Springs will vote on the bond on Tuesday. It needs a super majority, or two-thirds, to pass.