Shelley makes a big bond ask — for the second time

SHELLEY (Idaho Ed News) — In rural Shelley, just south of Idaho Falls, yard signs pop up along the quiet highway and suburban streets — some advocating for a $78.6 million bond for the local school district and others against.

The signs highlight a division in this small community over whether to embrace an increase in property taxes to build and improve school facilities.

“I’ve had a couple people say, ‘No, it’s too expensive for me. I’m on a fixed income and I just can’t afford it.’ And I respect that,” first-year Shelley superintendent Doug McLaren said.

In Shelley — and in many Idaho communities — it’s a division that’s all too familiar.

Passing a bond in Idaho, where people tend to be tax-averse, is already an uphill battle. Add the two-thirds supermajority approval needed to pass a bond — one of the highest thresholds in the country — and the likelihood of a successful ballot measure diminishes. Statewide, only 26% of bonds have passed in the past five years, from 2020-2024.

Successful bonds can be even more unlikely in rural communities, where the tax burden falls across fewer shoulders and is therefore more expensive. Shelley’s current $78.6 million ask would equate to an estimated tax of $423 per $100,000 of property value per year for the next twenty years.

It’s the second time in the past two school years that Shelley voters will see a bond ask on the ballot. In fall 2023, they soundly rejected a $67.8 million bond proposal, which got only 48% approval.

In the days leading up to the May 20 election, McLaren has been standing outside Shelley’s main grocery store to talk about the bond and answer questions from community members. He says the bond, which would fund a new high school and career technical education center, would alleviate overcrowding and provide much-needed classroom upgrades for programs ranging from chemistry to welding to ceramics.

“I’m optimistic,” McLaren said about the election. “A lot of people we’ve talked to understand the investment that this is in our community.”

Shelley’s pro and anti-bond campaigns

Bond opposition campaigns aren’t new to Shelley or many other Idaho towns.

In 2023, Shelley school bond opponents put up a billboard — funded by a conservative East Idaho political action committee — urging voters to reject the ask, which they did. This time, that opposition is still present, though it’s unclear who’s behind it.

“Everywhere they’re trying to pass a bond, there’s going to be a campaign against raising taxes,” McLaren said. “To counter that, we have a lot of people in our community with ‘Vote Yes’ signs up.”

And there’s a bond support group in the community, Growing Russets, that has created its own website and social media page.

In rural communities, local bond support groups can make all the difference — as was the case in Salmon, where a volunteer group helped pass a bond after decades of failed attempts. School districts are forbidden from advocating for bonds; Shelley’s neighboring Idaho Falls School District has found itself in legal hot water for allegedly crossing that line.

“The decision (to run another bond) was not made lightly or without any other options explored,” one of the Growing Russets’ posts says. “But it is the option that helps the Shelley School District as a whole, not just (Shelley High).”

The new high school would resolve overcrowding issues throughout the district. Currently, eight high school classrooms are located in outbuildings due to a lack of space. Three other district schools are at full capacity, and two are nearly full.

If the bond passes and a new high school and CTE center are built, the existing high school could be used for middle school classes, creating a domino effect of opening up space at the district’s other schools as well.

Bond would improve CTE offerings, modernize classrooms

The proposed new CTE center is an addition to what was previously on the table with the 2023 bond.

McLaren said the district decided to include the center based on community feedback received via a fall survey. McLaren said it would open up the potential to add more career pathways for students, from drones to medical professions to cybersecurity, depending on student interest.

“A lot of kids are more interested in that than in college now, and that really gives them a head start on it,” said Shelley High art teacher Angelie Walker.

If the bond passes, it would also help to modernize facilities for classes from chemistry to ceramics, McLaren said.

Walker’s art class doesn’t have the proper ventilation needed for the kiln or for oil painting. The classroom is small enough that a student in a wheelchair is unable to navigate through the tight rows to get to the kiln.

“We’re really crammed in,” Walker said.

The auditorium is so small it can’t be used for performances or even practices, band teacher Shawn Vera said. Instead, students perform in the gym where the acoustics are poor, and the audience is more likely to act like they’re at a basketball game instead of a concert.

Science teacher Robin Bench wishes she had a larger classroom with gas connections for her chemistry classes.

“We are very crowded,” she said.

But Chris Fleming, an English teacher whose classroom is in one of the high school’s outbuildings, has mixed feelings about the bond.

“In many ways the bond is a good thing,” she said. “And it’s also a hard thing, because I look at people on a fixed income and I just worry … that it’s going to hit them really hard.”

Idaho EdNews data analyst Randy Schrader and reporter Emma Epperly contributed to this report.

Get the details on Shelley’s $78.6 million bond ask

Shelley, which serves just under 2,500 students, is asking again for funds to do a total facilities update after a failed bond measure in November 2023.

The district’s current high school is the most over-capacity of its schools with 3 modular buildings already in use. The district has three other schools at full capacity along with two nearly full elementary schools, according to the district’s website.

If the bond passes, the district would get a new high school, expected to open in 2029, along with a career technical education facility.

The new high school would be about 40,000 square feet larger with eight new classrooms and a science lab. The career technical building would have 11 classrooms and four shops along with an auditorium that would seat 600.

What: A $78 million, 20-year bond

What’s at stake? The funds would pay for the construction and outfitting of a new high school and career technical education facility. It would also pay for renovations to other schools.

Impact: The bond would cost taxpayers $423 per $100,000 of assessed value, before state property tax relief. Bonds need a supermajority or 66.7% of the vote to pass. See a sample ballot here.

More information is available on the school district website here.