The Boise School District will take a $172.5 million bond issue to voters on March 14.
On Monday night, trustees gave their unanimous backing to a plan that would replace several aging schools, and finance $58.8 million in maintenance projects at 41 district facilities.
Among the big-ticket items:
- Remodeling the gym and performing arts center at Boise High School, at a cost of $15.3 million.
- A new school in East Boise’s Harris Ranch subdivision, costing $13.9 million.
- Rebuilding Pierce Park, Amity and Whittier elementary schools, each at a cost of $13.9 million.
- Expansion of the district’s professional-technical center to add electrical, plumbing and air conditioning classes. This expansion would cost $13.3 million.
The bond issue is designed to finance the bulk of Boise’s 10-year, $217 million facilities master plan, without increasing tax rates.
However, all bond issues face a high hurdle at the polls, requiring a two-thirds supermajority to pass.
The Boise trustees’ decision comes less than a week after the defeat of another big-money bond issue: a $180 million plan to expand the College of Western Idaho. The plan received support from 57 percent of voters in Ada and Canyon counties, falling short of the needed two-thirds support.
