Jefferson School District bond fails

RIGBY, Idaho (KIFI) - Jefferson County residents did not approve a proposed $80 million bond Tuesday that would have funded eight different projects for the Jefferson School District 251, including a new middle school.

Now, Superintendent Chad Martin says the district and school board will be working together with the community to "find a solution that works and that the community can support."

Martin says part of the process will be to reach out to understand the concerns of the community.

"I know there's concerns with some of the projects," Martin said." We knew that going in, but there was also great support for some of those. But also I think there's a lot of unrest of the world, as we know, has got gas prices going up and construction prices fluctuating. I think there's some unrest there that we need to address and be able to establish some confidence with our community."

Martin says the needs the bond would have addressed are still present, as the community continues to grow.

"We're getting new students, especially the high school," he said. "We have roughly 2000 students there. And in fact, I was just looking at numbers. The next two years, we'll have 200 additional students just by the nature of bigger classes. Moving in. And that's without the growth that we're seeing in our community."

He says they will do what they can to continue to release the right information for any future bonds, so they will be "helping people understand what the impact would be."

In a letter to parents and staff in the district ,Martin says the district "appreciate our community. We appreciate those who came out and voted one way or the other to help us to to gauge what we need to do and the support that we've received. And and we're still committed to providing a high quality education for students. And we have fabulous teachers and staff that will continue to do that regardless."

You can view the full letter from Superintendent Chad Martin below.

Dear parents and staff,

As you probably have heard, the bond did not pass. We wish to convey gratitude to our entire community, staff, teachers, parents, and community members, who worked hard on sharing information about the bond. The bond would have addressed secondary capacity issues we are having in the district. While we are disappointed the bond did not pass, this does not stop our mission to make sure every student is provided a high-quality education.

As a district, we know that the needs of our district have not changed. Enrollment continues to grow. We are dealing with the need for more classrooms to accommodate our growing enrollment. We will be working with the Board of Trustees, staff, and patrons, to determine our next steps in addressing the overcrowding in our secondary schools and other facilities issues throughout the district.

If you are interested in volunteering in our schools or serving on a district committee, please reach out to a school or call the district office at (208) 745-6693.

Thanks again for all of your ongoing support of our students, our staff, and our district.

Sincerely,

Superintendent Chad Martin