BCSD discusses future school bond

BONNERS FERRY — At the Dec. 18 regular Boundary County School District meeting, the trustees discussed the path for a future school bond for Valley View Elementary School. It would be the third time the bond would be put to voters.

To date, BCSD has run two bonds for Valley View, which failed to receive a supermajority of votes in the March 2022 and August 2022 elections for $16 million and $16.4 million respectively. Unfortunately repairs are still needed for the 75-year-old school, such as a new roof, updated plumbing, electric, heating, additional classrooms and moving the kindergarten buildings across the street to the main campus. 

In April 2023, Valley View was featured in a ProPublica article as one of the worst-funded schools in the nation. 

Due to the new legislative session, school districts can no longer run elections in March, so May 2024 is the soonest a bond could be run. However, the facility committee must first convene to provide input. The facility committee is composed of local business professionals, real estate and financial advisers and facility managers. The board of trustees decided to turn over the project to the state to repair the school instead of going out for another bond based on the recommendation of the committee. 

The facility committee’s next meeting is Jan. 17, 2024, at 6 p.m. at the school district office. 

On April 6, the school was inspected by the state and district officials were informed they would have to run and fail the bond two more times before the state would step in to rebuild the school.

Board Vice Chair Teresa Rae compared the school to a ticking time bomb due to multiple concerns of heating, sewer lines, power and the possibility that the roof could cave in, like the former gym did only a few years ago.

Superintendent Jan Bayer cautioned against the state coming in to build the school, because the taxpayers would end up paying for a school they did not vote on at a higher interest rate than that of a school bond. She added that the school would be built to the state standard and may have additional features or amenities that financially conservative voters would not have voted for. 

The Bonners Ferry High School 20-year bond expired in September 2022. 

BCSD did not run a bond in November 2023, due to assessed property values not being finalized and levy rates not being available. Without this data, the bond language, which gives taxpayers a quote on how much the bond will cost them annually, would have not been accurate. 

Bayer said she did not feel comfortable going in front of the community and giving voters information that is not available.

At the Dec. 18 regular board meeting, the board compared current and past quotes to rebuild the school. By cutting additional classrooms and designing the building to add on classrooms when needed, the district plans to save money. 

HB292, from last year’s legislative session, will provide additional funding from the state to school bonds and levies, providing a tax cut for taxpayers. The funds are based on a per-pupil basis using average daily attendance and will be distributed to school districts on Aug. 1 each year. The funds must be used for construction or renovations of school districts and used in place of property tax levy moneys. 

The funds can also be used for supplemental levies, which run for two years and pay for additional services, courses, teachers and extracurricular activities not required by the state. The funds can also be used for future school facility construction or renovations, securing and making payments on new facilities and all cash received must be deducted from the school levy which would otherwise be paid for by property taxpayers. 

This funding would cut the cost of levies and bonds for taxpayers. With this bill in mind, Rae said another bill that could help taxpayers and funding schools could happen this next legislative session, but if the bond election takes place before the bill is in law, the district would not benefit from the tax break, as the law was not in effect at the time of voting and not in the ballot language. 

Chair Ron MacDonald was concerned that if Valley View wasn’t prepared soon it would just delay the other facility maintenance, such as Mt. Hall Elementary. Which would be due to bond and a new facility in 20 years, but that would make the school 75 years old. He was also concerned with then having the Boundary County Middle School not set for a new school until it is 100 years old. 

In other BCSD news, bussing costs have increased and BCSD is feeling the woes of inventory shortage as they still have not received school buses which were ordered in 2021, and like everything else, the prices have gone up. 

BCSD Business Manager Cal Bateman told the board of trustees at the Nov. 27 meeting that the price for buses has also increased.

In prior years buses would be ordered a year out and the district would receive them the next February. Bateman said if the district orders a bus it is projected they will receive it in February 2025. 

Two years ago buses were estimated at $100,000, but the past two years the prices have increased $20,000 every year and are now quoted at $140,000.

At this time BCSD has ordered two buses, but has only received one.