Boise, a new elementary school is coming. This family donated $2 million in land for it
.jpg "Millie Davis, the daughter of Dallas Harris, celebrates her family’s donation to the Boise School District of a site to build a new elementary school on March 15, 2022.")
Five years after voters overwhelmingly approved a school bond, plans are underway for a new elementary school in the Harris Ranch community in southeast Boise.
Boise School District officials gathered this week to celebrate the donation of the land that will soon serve as the site for the Dallas Harris Elementary School. About 3 acres of land, valued at about $2 million, were donated by the family of Dallas Harris, a landowner who created a master plan in 1976 to develop the area.
The new school comes as part of a $172.5 million bond Boise voters approved with 86% support in 2017. The district hopes to break ground on the school this spring and welcome its first class in fall 2023.
The school, which will serve about 500 kids in kindergarten through sixth grade, will help alleviate crowding at Riverside, Adams and other nearby elementary schools. It will be the first new school the district has added since 2008, when the district built Morley Nelson and Grace Jordan Elementary schools, spokesperson Dan Hollar said.
“We don’t get a chance to build new schools very often,” Board President Dave Wagers said during the event. “It’s so wonderful that we get to build a new school in a neighborhood that didn’t exist in an area that people want to live in.”
Millie Davis, the daughter of Dallas Harris, said the goal is to install a sense of community in the area. While her father didn’t attend high school, he understood the importance of education, she said.
Davis said the Harris family was committed from day one to donate a site to the Boise School District in honor of her parents.
“We were committed to donate a school site because it’s good for the kids, the community, and it is what our dad wanted,” she said.
During the event, Davis also unveiled a bronze relief of Dallas Harris that she said will be included in the exterior design of the school.
District makes progress on capital projects
During a presentation earlier this week, Deputy Superintendent Lisa Roberts said about 85% of the district’s capital project list and about 75% of its bond maintenance project list is complete. The district had a 10-year timeline for the bond, which has helped fund facility improvements and major building projects at schools in the district.
That included rebuilding several schools on their current sites and remodeling or adding additions to eight schools. The district has also upgraded HVAC systems and replaced roofs and flooring.
Still, she expressed some concerns about costs going forward, and spoke of the benefits of the district being ahead of schedule with its projects.
“We are really concerned about being able to get the products that we need for the projects we have left and the cost,” she said. “We are seeing astronomical prices. … So that’s why we continue to forge on.”
