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What's next for local school districts after bond failures?

For some districts, it's back to the drawing board.

BOISE - Ada County voters on Tuesday approved more than $120 million in funding for the West Ada School District: $95 million is coming in the form of a bond, the other $28 million in a two-year levy. The funding will go toward new schools and programs within the district.

However, for some districts, it’s back to the drawing board. The Middleton, Parma, Wilder, and Emmett school districts also ran bonds ranging from $5 million to $25 million. All those bonds failed to gather the supermajority needed to pass.

“Bonds are very important to school districts. They are our only real funding source for major projects like building buildings or these types of major remodels,” said Emmett Superintendent Wayne Rush.

Emmett School District ran a $20.4 million bond, which received just over 40 percent of the vote. The district was hoping to use the money towards the construction of a new career technical education center and repairs for its elementary, middle and high schools.

“It's truly about repairing schools and actually repairing schools. Our middle school, part of it was built in 1954, part of it was built in 1972 and so those buildings just need some repairs,” said Rush.

The Emmett School District hasn’t successfully passed a bond in nearly 20 years. Rush says he took many calls on Wednesday about where the district should go next, many of whom have different options.

“The question is do you replace or do you repair them, and that's one of the debates will have within the community and it's a good debate,” said Rush.

The district is also putting together a new facilities committee to help develop that plan. “I don't think it's going to be a quick process. I think we need to be thoughtful and really work hard to figure out how we move forward,” said Rush.

ELECTION RESULTS: March 2018 school bonds and levies

Just south of Emmett, the Middleton School District continues to grow.

“By 2022-2023, we're anticipating another 1,000 students. We have 4,000 students now,” Middleton School District Superintendent Josh Middleton said.

The influx of students has already overcrowded two of the district’s three elementary schools.

“One is 150 percent capacity and the other one is about 110 percent capacity,” said Middleton.

The district was hoping to pass a $25 million bond to build a fourth elementary school to help alleviate the issue. Some of the money would have also purchased land for possible future school locations. However, the district’s bond failed by roughly 7 percent.

“We're going to continue to grow. We're out of space and we're going to start looking at bringing in more portables for the two elementary schools,” said Middleton.

The Middleton School Board will reconvene in April and discuss their next steps, but Middleton believes voters could see the bond back on the ballot by the end of the year.

“I feel confident at the next election that we'll get this passed,” said Middleton.

The Parma School District looked to pass a $5 million bond to expand the district’s band room and build a new agricultural education building. Their request fell just short of the supermajority needed to pass, gaining nearly 64 percent of the vote. Parma Superintendent Jim Norton says the needs are still there and the district will discuss their options at an April board meeting.

The Wilder School District was also hoping to pass a $5 million bond. The money would’ve been used to expand the school’s cafeteria and construct a vocation-agricultural building. The vote failed after nearly 60 percent voted against the additions.

Wilder Superintendent Jeff Dillon said the district continues to grow and the needs are not getting any less. Dillon added the board will also sit down and look at all the factors during their April board meeting.

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