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After Failed Bond, West Ada School District Will Try Again

Idaho Education News

The West Ada School District will run another bond issue in an attempt to ease overcrowding issues.

But first, district officials want to look at the ingredients of a bond proposal — and crunch the precinct-by-precinct numbers from Tuesday’s vote.

“The kids aren’t going away and the need isn’t going to decrease,” West Ada Superintendent Linda Clark said Wednesday.

One day earlier, the state’s largest school district fell short, in the day’s biggest election. West Ada’s $104 million bond issue picked up 63 percent support — enough to pass, said Clark, in 48 states. But that left West Ada short of the two-thirds supermajority required under the Idaho Constitution.

District officials said the bond issue was needed to handle continued enrollment increases and overcrowding, particularly at the middle school level. Over half of the money, $60 million, would have gone to build two new middle schools. (For details about the bond issue, click here.)

The failed bond issue will not have an immediate effect on conditions in West Ada schools — such as Lake Hazel Middle School, the district’s most overcrowded middle school. Completed in 1980 and built to a capacity of 1,000 students, Lake Hazel opened its doors this week to a projected enrollment of more than 1,450.

However, the district was hoping to have its first new middle school online by fall of 2016, to alleviate crowding at Lake Hazel. And that means West Ada could be on a tight deadline, in terms of running and passing another bond issue; once funded, a middle school takes about 18 months to build.

The earliest West Ada could run another bond issue in Nov. 4, the date of the general election. On Wednesday, Clark did not commit to a timetable. “It takes a lot of analysis.”

The district is bracing for more growth, layered on top of 2013-14 enrollment that eclipsed the 36,000 mark. Clark expects enrollment to increase by about 700 this year, and says the sprawling suburban district appears poised for another growth spurt.

While the stakes were high for West Ada, this did not result in a high voter interest — or high turnout. No groups mobilized in support of the bond issue, or in opposition. Only 9.5 percent of the district’s eligible voters cast a ballot.

In retrospect, Clark said timing was a factor. This was the first time West Ada ran a bond issue in August — and this year’s election date coincided with the second day of the school year. This made it more difficult to get supporters to the polls.

“These issues are won or lost with the parents,” she said.

But by Wednesday morning, Clark said she had already received emails from some parents, urging the district to try again.

Click here for a state-wide wrap-up of Tuesday's school elections from Idaho Education News.

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