BOISE, Idaho — A historic $150,887,608 is being invested into the West Ada School District after the passing of House Bill 521. This bill is providing money in different sizes to the many districts across Idaho.
- The bill is intended to be a tax relief from property taxes paid to maintain schools in Idaho.
- West Ada intends to invest in building security and maintenance for its many schools as the largest district in the state.
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
If there's any lesson to learn in an Idaho classroom it's that the number of teachers is going down while costs to maintain a classroom are going up.
“Today a high school costs nearly 100 million dollars to build,” said Derek Bub, superintendent for the West Ada School District.
Not to mention the cost of keeping schools in the state up to date. Here in the largest district in the state, West Ada officials are excited to see House Bill 521 bring over 150 million dollars to help combat inflation allowing them to invest in staffing and maintaining existing facilities.
"We have had to make big increases in teacher pay to be competitive with other states. we've had to, we are making this investment because of the cost of buildings and maintenance, and we are doing launch because the cost of advanced education has gone up so much," said Governor Brad Little.
Superintendent Derek Bub and Governor Brad Little share the same sentiment that Idaho is better when its schools are better.
"When our schools are well-equipped. We know our students are going to be well-equipped. we have great teachers in the classrooms every day and not having to worry about facilities and being able to address facilities as those needs come up is really important for us in West Ada," said Bub.
"That means all of the businesses that i can see from where I am standing right here are going to have a better supply of higher-skilled workers. that's going to be good for everybody," said Little.
