Editor’s Note: This is the third story EdNews has published on the Vallivue land purchase. Click here to read our story on the purchase and click here to read our story on district policy and Idaho law.

Large Idaho school districts don’t typically pay more than appraised value when buying land.

But the Vallivue School District did.

Five different land purchases in districts from around the state came in under the appraised value — and in two deals landowners gifted chunks of property — according to records obtained by Idaho Education News in a spot check of transactions over the past two decades.

EdNews examined appraisals and purchase agreements from the West Ada, Bonneville, Kuna and Lewiston school districts and compared them to Vallivue’s 2024 purchase of farmland from a school board member’s father.

The records — along with interviews with school administrators — showed a stark contrast between Vallivue’s deal and a typical purchase for similar parcels by comparable school districts. 

Vallivue trustees in 2024 voted unanimously to approve a $5 million deal to purchase 87 acres of land from Dave Christensen, the father of trustee Clay Christensen. The land was appraised at $2.87 million.

The Vallivue deal has raised a red flag for Canyon County officials. The prosecutor’s office reviewed a complaint and has asked the sheriff’s office to investigate.

“This now constitutes an active, ongoing criminal investigation,” the sheriff’s office confirmed in an email.

Idaho code requires trustees to have property appraised before a purchase and that appraisal “shall be used to establish the value of the real property.”

West Ada CFO Dave Roberts said his district’s interpretation of the law does not allow a purchase over appraised value.

“I think shall means shall,” Roberts said. “Shall is different than may.”

Vallivue Superintendent Lisa Boyd, who orchestrated her district’s deal at 74% above the appraised value, doesn’t see it that way.

“There’s nothing in the statute that says that,” she said of using the appraisal to establish the purchase price.

It depends, said Bonneville Superintendent Scott Woolstenhulme. A district might have to pay above appraisal for must-have land, giving the seller some leverage.

“Typically our practice has been to pay as close to appraised value as we possibly can,” he said.

Here are details on five different district purchases, based on public records obtained by Idaho Education News.

West Ada School District

The Flower Property

• Appraisal: $2,725,000 (~$31,000/acre)
• Purchase: $2,500,000
• Difference: -$225,000

This 90-acre parcel was purchased in 2017 from Gerald Flower and is now the location of Owyhee High School in Meridian. It was appraised at $2.73 million and the district paid $2.5 million.

West Ada’s purchase agreement stipulated that if the appraisal exceeds the agreed upon $2.5 million, then the remainder would be donated to the district as a tax-exempt charitable contribution.

“The negotiated price is considered to be a bargain and sale, whereby the seller anticipates completing a charitable non-cash donation for the difference between the market value conclusion and the sale price,” according to the appraisal document.

Roberts said it is very common for developers to donate property to school districts. Some development agreements require a land donation for a school site. The district then gets an appraisal and gives the developer a receipt for the appraised value.

“So they’ll actually donate the site to us as part of their development agreement,” Roberts said.

The Hill Property

• Appraisal: $2,415,400 (~$65,000/acre)
• Purchase: $1,950,900
• Difference: -$464,500

This 37-acre parcel was purchased in 2005 from Martin Hill. The land remains vacant today, ready for a new school when needed. It was appraised at $2.42 million and the district paid $1.95 million.

Similar to the Flower Property, Hill agreed to donate part of his land as a tax-exempt gift of $464,500.

After the sale went through, Hill became a tenant. Similar to Vallivue’s land purchase, West Ada signed a farm lease agreement with Hill to allow him to keep farming the land. Beginning in 2006, Hill agreed to pay West Ada $2,000 per year in rent. He also agreed to pay irrigation charges, maintain the property and keep the weeds down.

Roberts said this is very common both for school districts and in private real estate transactions. He said he wasn’t concerned with Vallivue’s lease agreement that allows Dave Christensen to keep farming the land without paying rent.

“We’re not really getting rent, if you will, because we’re just glad we can get somebody to drive a tractor there and mow the weeds down,” Roberts said.

The CTE Building

In another transaction, West Ada last year purchased a 70,000 square-foot metal warehouse. The district is now converting it into a career and technical education building.

Roberts said the owner asked for $17 million. But the district had the facility appraised and found it was worth $12.87 million.

“That’s a long ways from the $17 million,” Roberts said. “And so we told them, ‘Well, thank you, but we can’t buy it for any more than $12,872,000. That’s what we can pay for it, because we cannot pay over appraised value.”

Eventually, the seller was convinced to drop to West Ada’s price.

West Ada hired a law firm to draw up the paperwork for the warehouse purchase.

“That just gives us protection,” Roberts said. “In my mind, if something goes wrong, I got an attorney that helped me do it that I can look to say, ‘Hey, what happened?'”

Boyd told EdNews that she didn’t use an attorney when preparing Vallivue’s purchase contract with Dave Christensen.

Bonneville School District

The Kinghorn Property

• Appraisal: $1,300,000 ($16,435/acre)
• Purchase: $1,271,840
• Difference: -$28,160

This 79-acre parcel was purchased in 2021 from CK Properties LLC, managed by Calvin Kinghorn. The land remains vacant today. It was appraised at $1.3 million and the district paid $1.27 million.

Woolstenhulme said there was no urgency to buy the land and the district paid under the appraised value. But he said the district has paid above appraisal before.

“It really does depend on circumstances,” he said.

He added that appraisals provide a lot of information, but they are always based on property comparisons. “Sometimes those comps are valid, and sometimes I think there’s questions around the comps they use,” he said.

Lewiston School District

The Nichols Property

• Appraisal: $553,000 (~$6,500/acre)
• Purchase amount: $515,295
• Difference: -$37,705

The 85-acre parcel was purchased in 2004 from the Mary B. Nichols Trust, under her last will and testament. It was appraised at $553,000 and purchased for $515,295.

The school district was one of three buyers in the deal. The city of Lewiston and Lewis-Clark State College purchased adjacent land from the Nichols Trust. The total purchase was $1.53 million.

The district built Lewiston High on the property, the city built a park on its portion and LC State built the Schweitzer Career & Technical Education Center just north of the high school.

Kuna School District

The Durrant Property

• Appraisal: $1,530,000 (~$25,500/acre)
• Purchase amount: $1,500,000
• Difference: -$30,000

This 60-acre parcel was purchased in 2017 from the C. Russell Durrant and Marie B. Durrant Living Trust. The land remains vacant today.

Appraisal firm L.D. Knapp and Associates appraised a larger 76-acre parcel at $1.94 million, or $25,500 per acre, but the district purchased 60 acres of that for $1.5 million, or $25,000 per acre.

Vallivue School District

The Christensen Property

• Appraisal: $2,868,000 (~$32,960/acre)
• Purchase amount: $5,000,000
• Difference: +$2,132,000

This 87-acre parcel was purchased in 2024 from Dave Christensen, a former board chair and father of trustee Clay Christensen. It was appraised at $2.87 million and purchased for $5 million.

While other districts paid under the appraised value in five different land purchases, Vallivue paid $2.13 million over the appraised value.