American Falls school district reduces bond amount

The American Falls school board is still working on a bond to build a new elementary school.

Last May, the board proposed a $12.5 million bond to build a new school. Though people voted in favor of the bond, it did not receive the super majority needed to pass.

Now, the school board has been working to make some changes to the bond in hopes of putting it back on the ballot to try again.

Instead of $12.5 million, the bond will now be just shy of $9 million. The superintendent for the school district, Ronald Bolinger, said he and the board feel the new bond still meets the needs of the students but lowers the amount the community is being asked to approve.

Under the new proposed bond, the new elementary would be a little more than 38,000 square feet. The original plan was for 52,000 square feet. The school would hold grades three through five. Each grade would have five classrooms and a computer lab.

Additional classrooms that were originally added in as room for growth, if necessary, will be deferred being built until the rooms would be absolutely necessary.

Because Hillcrest Elementary currently has around 500 students, the school can’t accommodate them all. Every inch of space in the school is being used. Teacher aid rooms have become classrooms and hallways became computer labs.

Also, as a temporary fix, two third-grade classrooms are currently in a portable modular unit.

“We’re definitely squeezed tight in here,” said Erika Kettl, one of the third grade teachers in the modular.

Kettl said having to be in the modular has several challenges.

“Our children have to go in and out of the building to change classes and to go to lunch and so that’s always tricky,” Kettl said.

She said it’s especially hard in the winter with freezing temperatures and snow and ice for the kids to deal with. The ice and freezing temperatures can make it potentially unsafe for kids.

Kettl also said the modular doesn’t allow for any storage space for teachers’ classroom supplies.

“If you’re in the middle of a lesson and you need something and it’s in the storage shed, you can’t go get it,” she said.

Bolinger said surveys were handed out to the parents to see what people wanted. He said most everyone wanted to see a new school, rather than paying the cost to renovate the intermediate school.

He said the board has done its best to meet the public’s requirements. Now, the school is just hoping the public votes “yes.”

Both administrators and staff said the new school really is a necessity and it’s time for a permanent solution to the overcrowding issue.

“We’ve done our homework, we’ve done our surveys and so forth and we’ve learned what is wanted, what is needed,” Bolinger said. “And we’re hoping it happens this time.”

“This is a problem that’s not going to go away and eventually we’re going to have to take some serious action on this,” Kettl said. “A portable is just a band-aid. It’s not a real fix.”

The current bond, which the district is paying for the high school, currently costs taxpayers $79.74 per year, or $6.65 per month. Those figures are based on a home income of $100,000 per year. The new bond would cost about half of that. For the same estimate of $100,000 income, it would cost $39.96 per year, or $3.33 per month.

Bolinger said the board does plan to put the bond back up for vote on the Mar. 14 ballot.