Salmon district to seek bond issue

Seeking to address a long-standing building issue, the Salmon School District will seek a $25.6 million bond issue.

The Idaho Falls Post Register reported on the bond issue Wednesday.

If voters say yes on March 12 — and bond issues require a two-thirds supermajority to pass — the $25.6 million would pay for a new building for kindergarten through eighth-grade students. The building would also accommodate special education services for 3- to 5-year-olds, the Post Register reported; all told, the new building would have space for about 650 students.

The Salmon district has a long and trying history of passing bond issues.

Nine times, voters rejected measures to replace or renovate Salmon Middle School. After voters rejected two bond issues in 2013, the state stepped in with a plan to loan the district $3.6 million for roof repairs.

The district instead closed Salmon Middle School.

Salmon now divvies its students between two schools: Pioneer Elementary School, which houses about 350 preschool through fifth-grade students; and a junior-senior high school that houses about 450 sixth- through 12th-grade students.

 

Kevin Richert

Kevin Richert

Senior reporter and blogger Kevin Richert specializes in education politics and education policy. He has more than 30 years of experience in Idaho journalism. He is a frequent guest on "Idaho Reports" on Idaho Public Television and "Idaho Matters" on Boise State Public Radio. Follow Kevin on Twitter: @KevinRichert. He can be reached at [email protected]

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