Post Falls To Seek Bonds For New High School Board Probably Will Submit Plan To Voters For Stripped-Down Building

The Post Falls School Board voted unanimously Monday to once again ask voters to approve construction of a high school.

The election, set for next March, will mark the overcrowded district’s fourth attempt to pass a bond for a new high school. In the last two attempts, in the spring and fall of 1996, the district garnered 63 percent voter support, falling just short of the two-thirds majority required under state law.

“This recommendation came out of the facilities committee and it still seems to be the best route to go,” Post Falls Superintendent Richard Harris said Monday.

The board, which was missing one member Monday night, approved holding a bond election for a new high school without seeing a price tag for the project.

The dollar estimate won’t be presented to the board until next month’s meeting, Harris said, hinting that this year’s package will be a scaled-down version of prior attempts.

“This time, I think we are going to leave the auditorium, stadium and everything off there for just a basic high school,” Harris said.

The proposal still will include requests for a new heating system, however.

If a high school is built, the middle school would be moved into the current high school, while the current middle school would be used to relieve overcrowding in the elementary schools, perhaps by housing one entire grade level there.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: FOURTH TIME A CHARM? The election will be the district’s fourth attempt to pass a bond for a new high school. In the last two attempts, the district garnered 63 percent voter support, falling just short of the two-thirds majority required under state law.