School Buildings Study Proposed Lakeland Superintendent Calls On Lawmakers To Address Need

Idaho needs to find a better way to fund school construction, and educators across the state want to help, Bob Jones, Lakeland School District superintendent, told the Legislature Thursday.

“Whatever the options are, we’re ready and willing to work with you … so we can provide the facilities we need for our children,” Jones said.

Jones, who is Idaho’s Superintendent of the Year, addressed a joint meeting of the House and Senate education committees Thursday as part of a panel of six outstanding educators from across the state. The group included Carol Carlson of Post Falls High School, who was honored as the state’s top vice principal.

Rep. Wayne Meyer, R-Rathdrum, told the committee, “I’d just like to gloat a little and say that two of these folks are from my district.”

Jones called for an interim study committee - a major study conducted between legislative sessions that’s designed to yield proposed laws for the following year - to look at the school building problem.

He noted that a study showing Idaho needed $700 million in school building construction and repairs has been sitting unaddressed since 1993. “Perhaps it’s time,” he said.

Sen. Jack Riggs, R-Coeur d’Alene, said he liked that approach. “It gives you the time to really study an issue, and bring in the experts,” he said. “I do think that has merit, rather than trying to do it during the short legislative session.”

Meyer said he’d volunteer to be on the committee.

“There’s a lot of discussion down here every year on what do we do about facility funds, but nobody does anything,” Meyer said. “I talked about it early on and threw out some ideas, but nobody liked ‘em.”

Idaho is one of only 10 states that puts no state money into school construction, leaving the entire cost to local property taxpayers. It is one of only four states that requires a two-thirds vote to pass a school construction bond, and the only state with both restrictions.

House Speaker Mike Simpson, who has pushed unsuccessfully for state funding in past years, said he doesn’t see much hope for either an interim committee approach or changes in either restriction this year.

“It’s not a question of whether there’s a need out there or not,” he said in an interview Thursday. “It’s a question of where do you find the money.”

Simpson said the state would need to spend $16 million to $25 million a year to come up with significant matching funds for local school bonds.

“The real question you’ve got with school buildings is can you find the money within the existing budget,” Simpson said. “It’s not is the Legislature willing to raise taxes to fund it. I don’t see the Legislature doing that.”

He said neither state schools Superintendent Anne Fox’s plan to raise sales taxes a half-cent nor proposed legislation to lower the two-thirds vote requirement is likely to pass the House.

The Legislature is considering interim study committees on the distribution of state sales tax; which nonprofit organizations should pay property tax; and property rights issues.

As for school buildings, Simpson said, “If some of these superintendents have some ideas about how to do it, boy, they don’t need an interim study committee. Come on down and tell us.”

Simpson said it’s difficult for the Legislature to find such a large chunk of money during the session. “You’ve got to do it before the budget’s set,” he said. “It’s got to be a priority with the individual presenting the budget.”

That’s the governor. And Gov. Phil Batt is among those who believe funding for school buildings is best left to the local property tax, because it’s local property owners who benefit when a new school is built.

Jones said the Lakeland School District’s biggest challenge is growth. The district has gained 150 to 200 students a year for the past 10 years, he said.

The district has had 10 bond issues since 1962, and eight passed, he said. “We’re highly appreciative of that.”

But, he said, “Bond issues create a large and continuous problem of debts for school districts like ours.”

, DataTimes