Kuna Schools may need $40 million to make room for new students
Taxpayers in the Kuna School District could be asked as early as March to pass a $40 million bond issue that would pay for new school construction, creating space for an estimated 250 new students who come into the district of 5,500 each year.
The Kuna School Board will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the district office, 711 East Porter St., to consider adopting a building plan. The public is invited to address the board.
Elements of the facilities plan include:
▪ Construction of the first phase of a second high school, as Kuna High has reached 1,550 students and is 50 students over capacity. $25 million.
▪ Transformation of Teed Elementary School into a sixth- through eighth-grade middle school. Renovation includes adding 10 classrooms and a cafeteria. Conversion of Kuna Middle School from seventh and eight grades to sixth through eighth. $6 million.
▪ Adding four classrooms each to Silver Trail and Reed elementaries and upgrading other buildings. $5 million.
▪ Deferred maintenance on other buildings. $4 million.
School officials says they can pay for the bond plus a $2.5 million supplemental levy for curriculum materials and technology and not raise the current tax rate. Residents in the school district pay $500 per $100,000 of taxable value on their homes.
Taxable value is the amount you are taxed on after deducting the homeowner’s exemption. Holding the tax rate even doesn’t mean your taxes won’t increase. That will be based largely on what happens to the value of your property.
Kuna trustees could opt to put the bond measure and the supplemental levy on the ballot on March 14, the same day Boise School District taxpayers will vote on a $172 million bond issue to pay for building six new schools and other improvements.
School construction bond issues require a two-thirds majority voter approval.
This story was originally published December 19, 2016 at 1:54 PM with the headline "Kuna Schools may need $40 million to make room for new students."