Majority says YES, but still not enough
By JOSH MCDONALD
Staff Reporter
KELLOGG — For the second time this year, the leaders of the Kellogg School District were given a mixed message as to the future of their district.
That mixed message being that a large majority of their patrons supported their proposed $7.9 million bond, but it still was met with enough resistance to not clear the 66.6% plus one vote supermajority it required to pass.
Totaling in at 698 for and 467 against, with the 1,165 people who did vote, the KSD would have needed 777 of them to say yes for the measure to pass.
Interestingly enough, following the bond’s defeat in May, when it received a 63% approval, this time around that number dipped to 60%.
Detractors of the bond gave many reasons for their lack of supporting the measure, some based off informed decisions and others not as much, but the main reason for a no vote was tied to larger property owners or those who owned things such as pasture lands, private forest ownership and businesses not wanting to foot higher taxes.
KSD Superintendent Dr. Nancy Larsen hasn’t been afraid to express her disappointment at the failure of the bond (either time), but still believes that this loss is really at the hands of the state and the way it has decided that these measures be voted on.
“Once again, I sit here and look at the state’s supermajority requirement as a problem, especially in smaller rural school districts like ours,” Larsen said. “The state of Idaho has decided that the majority of patrons’ voices don’t count in this issue.”
Larsen further spoke about how she still believes that this community does support its schools even if they voted against the bond.
The biggest concern going forward is how does the school pay for the much needed security upgrades that each building in the KSD is in dire need of.
“One of the major reasons for this bond was to increase the safety and security for the students,” Larsen said. “All I can do now is ensure that my people know what they can do to protect those kids if something were to happen. Because the buildings we have are not going to do it in the condition that they are in.”
One of the biggest issues is tied directly to KSD’s smallest school.
Canyon Elementary School is the smallest facility the district educates in, but due to Pinehurst Elementary being filled to capacity (and there being no money available to expand or build off it) the Canyon students are stuck in one of the district’s least safe buildings.
“When I think of our Canyon School, that is a huge burden for me,” Larsen said. “They deserved that safety. It’s a wooden structure, it’s old, has no fire suppression system, using an archaic alarm system. Cellphones don’t work out there and landlines can’t be expected to be dependable all of the time. The nearest fire station is miles away. There are no exits out of the classrooms except for some windows that only the smallest people may be shoved through.”
The bond was set for 12 years totaling $7.9 million and was designated to support improvements to every building throughout the district.
At this time, the Kellogg School District is making no decisions on its next move until after a special Kellogg School Board meeting that has been tentatively scheduled for Sept. 5.
For more information, please contact the Kellogg School District at 208-784-1348.