BCSD hosts presentation on bond, levy tonight

BONNERS FERRY — Boundary County School District will run a school bond to replace Valley View Elementary and a maintenance and operations level to replace the current M&O at the Nov. 5 general election.  

BCSD is hosting a presentation on the bond and levy today, Sept. 19, at Boundary County Middle School library at 6 p.m.  

The bond for Bonners Ferry High School ended in 2022. It is BCSD facility maintenance plan to rebuild a school every 20 years.  

The previously proposed bond for Valley View, which failed twice, was set for levy rate of $77 per $100,000 for $18 million.  

Valley View was constructed in 1949 from recycled materials from Farragut Naval base.  

The new bond would be approximately $33 per $100,000 and at $10.5 million and would be used to build a new Valley View Elementary in Bonners Ferry. 

Due to inflation, district officials estimate it will cost $17 million to rebuild Valley View.  

However, BCSD has changed the bond language to cut costs and has accepted state funds for capital improvement projects.  

Through HB521 BCSD has opted to accept the lump sum of approximately $5.3 million to go toward paying down the proposed bond. Part of accepting this deal is that BCSD will not receive annual maintenance funding by the state, which was originally part of lottery funds.  

The $5.3 million will lower the bond to approximately $10.5 million for a new Valley View elementary, consolidating the six buildings into one and moving the kindergarten to the main campus. 

School board members said due to community input, a second gym will not be part of the bond, rather that it will be added later and through other funding options.  

Some projects, such as the new grandstands at Mendenhall Stadium, traffic improvements at Naples and a shop expansion at BFHS, have been provided by grants and partial donations. 

Compared to the proposed bond in 2022, the district has been able to lower the price of the bond by removing additional improvement projects from the ballot and has already completed many improvements across the district.  

BCSD board members have said in the past that improvements to each school were funded by past bonds, in order for every school to see improvements from the tax and as a way for patrons across the districts to vote in favor for the bond.  

BCSD officials have spoken against having a bond solely to rebuild one school in the district, as district patrons could look at as the tax as only benefiting one part of the school district  

The Maintenance and Operation levy, also known as a supplemental levy, will not increase from the current $2.4 million rate, which was instated in 2015. This will cost $98 per $100,000 assessed property value.  

BCSD officials have said the first year of the levy will be reduced to $4 per $100,000 due to funding from HB 292 and HB 521, which reduces the cost of levies to taxpayers. However, per the bills, BCSD cannot say note on the ballot that these bills will be used to pay down the levy.  

The levy expires every two years, and the taxpayers vote to continue funding or not.  

The levy pays for safety, security, maintenance, all extra- and co-curricular activities, special programs, salaries and benefits above what the state of Idaho funds, field trips, curriculum materials, some technology and a new bus every year.  

In August, BCSD Superintendent Jan Bayer detailed levy costs, noting it keeps BCSD in compliance with Title IX, which ensures there is equal access to sports for male and female students.  

The bond pays 100% of extra- and co-curricular activities which is all sports, drama, band, choir, a second foreign language, FFA and ag course, arts and transportation to these events.  

Bayer added that this covers uniform updates for sports, facility improvements, medicine kits for sports and referee costs. If the activities were cut down to bare bones, she estimates it would cost $300,000, however, to stay in compliance with Title IX all sports need to be funded.  

"If the levy were to fail, we can’t pick and choose which sports are funded,” Bayer said.  

She cautioned the school board on allowing community fundraising for sports programs if the levy should fail, as it could lead to Title IX violations if girl sports do not receive equal funding raising results.   

Bayer has consistently said that if the community votes down the levy on the second attempt in May, then she would advise following voters’ wish and not fund any extra- or co-curricular activities.  

The M&O levy overall cost will not increase, but the line item for maintenance will increase $200,000 to supplement the annual maintenance funds the district has lost since accepting the $5.3 million for capital improvements. BCSD will not receive the annual maintenance funds for a decade from the state and will have to find funds for regular repairs elsewhere in the budget.  

In March 2023 the $2.4 million levy passed by 55%. This levy will expire in June 2025, and if a new levy passes, it will start July 1, 2025.  

BCSD Vice Chair Terese Rae has said if levy fails in November 2024, and in May 2025, then the district won’t have money to retain staff. In order to make cuts the district would look at consolidating personnel and students by closing outlying schools, such as Mt. Hall Elementary and Naples Elementary schools. 

“The reality is if we don’t pass an M&O, one of two things will happen, we’ll have to consolidate all of our elementary schools or we’re going to have to double shift our middle school and high school,” Bayer said.  “That is the only way for the economy of scale to make enough cuts to make it happen.”   

In order to pass the levy must receive a majority of 50% plus one vote in favor. The bond must receive a 66 2/3% of votes in favor to pass.  

Should one or either of the requests fail at the November 5 general election, BCSD can run them again in May 2025. Due to new state law, March and August school district elections have been removed.  

If the bond fails again in May 2025, Bayer has said BCSD will be petitioning for the second time to the state to rebuild the school.  

“We are going [to the state], we are not going back,” she said. “That building is not suited for kids. [...] If something happens to our staff our students in that buildings, the state has to start funding facilities,” she said. 

In 2023 after an inspection, the state did not condemn Valley View, but said it is one catastrophic event away from closing.  

The BCSD facilities committee, which includes community members, met on August 21 as part of their bi-annual meeting.  They workshopped updating the 10-year facility plan for the district, as BCSD has nearly completed the previous 10-year plan projects in only five years.  

Bayer said many of the projects were paid for by $3,566,181 ESSER funds and $1,912,320 in grants.