D93 proposing a bond to build new elementary school

AMMON, Idaho (KIFI) – On Tuesday, Bonneville Joint School District 93 voters will get to decide whether or not to pass a $34.5 million bond to build a new elementary school and repair roofs to existing schools.

The new school will be able to enroll 700 students and provide more special education classrooms.

The district says it has been a decade since they have built a new school, which is not typical. D93 Superintendent Dr. Scott Woolstenhulme said, "I feel like we've done a lot of work to get us over the past decade without having to have an elementary school, a new elementary school built, which is pretty remarkable considering from 2000 to 2010 we built six elementary schools... And we haven't built a single elementary school since."

Now, they are right at capacity with all their schools. Most schools even over capacity having to use trailers for classrooms, which is not ideal. Woolstenhulme says they want to do something before it's too late.

This year, District 93 has been able to offer All-Day Kindergarten at Iona Elementary School. They say due to the fact there's just not enough classrooms, parents that want their child to participate in All-Day Kindergarten will have to send them to Falls Elementary School. The new school, if and when built, will allow the district to open those classes back up.

Most of D93's growth has come from new housing developments and families moving into the area.

Over this last decade, D93 School Board has adjusted boundaries four times to make the best use of facilities they already have. This has lead them to even bus students to schools farther away from their homes just to accomodate.

If the bond is approved, it will cost taxpayers an increase of $36 a year per $100,000 of their property's taxable value. They expect the bond to be paid out over 17 years.

It will be built south of Telford Road, east of Ammon Road. They estimate it will take about two years to build.

The new school will primarily help overcrowding at Iona and Discovery elementary schools, but new boundaries will be drawn to help spread out the students.

The anticipate the new school will help meet their needs for at least three to four years before looking at proposing another bond.

The district plans to go live on its Facebook page Monday night at 8:00 p.m. to further explain the bond and address any questions or concerns taxpayers may have. For more information and to ask questions, head to its website.