Parent sues School District 91

“Our school district has a pattern and practice over years, of avoiding the requirement to put pieces of public lands to public bids, and the way they do that is they characterize it as a land swap,” said Joshua Chandler.

Idaho Falls School District 91 has recently, “land swapped” a piece of property, and it’s not going unnoticed by the lands neighbors.

Chandler, a father of two kids who attend schools in the district, and one of the homeowners of the neighborhood near the land that was swapped, is suing the district.

He claims “land swapping” is not legal and that the land should have been put up for public bid.

His goal is to have the transaction reversed.

“The district said well, this is a land swap, it’s not a sale and so because of that, we don’t have to offer the opportunity to the public to bid,” he said.

The school district’s piece of land was valued at four-hundred ninety-seven thousand dollars. The district claims to have “land swapped” it to Rockwell Homes, in exchange for one of their pieces of land plus two-hundred sixty-three thousand dollars.

“There’s no such thing as a land swap exception, it doesn’t exist,” Chandler said. “This idea that you can call it a land swap when most of the consideration is money, is crazy.”

Being an attorney, Chandler feels like this lawsuit is necessary for the good of the community and many homeowners agree.

The land that was swapped has been proposed to be used for a new neighborhood. Many fear the negative impacts this will have.

Some of the concerns are:

Overcrowding in schools that are already overcrowded Child safety Traffic congestion Change to the character of the neighborhood Speeding

“We have had a massive problem with keeping our kids safe as they’re going to and from school and with traffic,” said mom of two and homeowner of a home across from the land that was swapped, Jessica Zeller.

Chandler’s hope is to gain more transparency, accountability, and consideration for the community from the school district.

“I’m hopeful that this lawsuit will be sort of an ever-present reminder to them (School District 91) that people do care, people are watching.”